Plain in Sauk County, Wisconsin — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

St. Anne’s Shrine

Photographed by Fitzie Heimdahl

1. St. Anne’s Shrine Marker

Inscription.

Second-generation Protestants primarily from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York settled the area surrounding Plain in the late 1840s. Catholic immigrants from Bavaria, Germany arrived in the 1860s and their population grew rapidly. Fr. Charles Surges led the community in the Bavarian tradition of building a shrine in thanksgiving and as a petition against disasters, such as the May 1918 cyclone, in which eight people were killed. The shrine to St. Anne consists of a chapel, a grotto inspired by the Grotto of our Lady of Lourdes in France, and 14 Stations of the Cross winding up the hill. The shrine was built using volcanic fieldstones gathered nearby. The community donated materials and labor. St. Anne’s Shrine was dedicated on July 26, 1928.

Erected 2023 by St. Luke Catholic Church and Old Franklin Township Historical Society. (Marker Number 605.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Disasters • Immigration • Religion & Religious Structures • Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Wisconsin Historical Society series list. A significant historical month for this entry is May 1918.

Location. 43° 16.6′ N, 90° 2.954′ W. Marker is in Plain, Wisconsin, in Sauk County

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. It is on Nachreiner Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1270 Nachriner Avenue, Plain WI 53577, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Greater Madison.

It is also in the American Midwest,

on the Great Lakes,

in the Corn Belt,

and in the Driftless Area — Bluff Country.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture

and also the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: White Mound Settlement (approx. 4.7 miles away); White Mound (approx. 5.9 miles away); Western Escape (approx. 5.9 miles away); Natural Bridge State Park (approx. 7.7 miles away); Frank Lloyd Wright (approx. 8.1 miles away); Shot Tower (approx. 8.8 miles away); Site of Old Helena (approx. 8.9 miles away); Tower Hill State Park (approx. 8.9 miles away).

Photographed by Fitzie Heimdahl

2. St. Anne’s Shrine Marker

Photographed by Greta Schassler, July 20, 2025

3. St. Anne’s Shrine Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on July 22, 2025. It was originally submitted on August 1, 2023, by Fitzie Heimdahl of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. This page has been viewed 1,453 times since then and 67 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 1, 2023, by Fitzie Heimdahl of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. 3. submitted on July 20, 2025, by Greta Schassler of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.