Territorial Church

Territorial Church. . , Here stands the first Lutheran church building constructed in Nebraska. It has occupied this site since 1860. , The congregation was first served by Reverend Henry W. Kuhns, a missionary sent by the Allegheny Synod to Nebraska Territory. Kuhns preached his first sermon in the front room of the Bates House in November 1858 and formally organized the church on July 22, 1859. , The membership immediately made plans for building, but their first effort of moving a store building from the abandoned town of Pacific City was frustrated when the structure was destroyed by a prairie fire while being moved to Dakota City., This church was designed and built by Augustus T. Haase, a local carpenter and member of the Emmanuel Lutheran congregation, at a cost of $2,000. For several years the building also served periodically as a Territorial courthouse, with religious services being held on Sunday as usual. Samuel Aughey, a leading scientist of the period, was the second pastor to serve the church., This old church still stands as a monument to the steadfastness of purpose of the early settler and as a symbol of pioneer religious life.