St. Olaf Lutheran Church

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, September 2, 2023

1. St. Olaf Lutheran Church Marker

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From the National Register Nomination:
The St. Olaf Lutheran Church was built in 1930. It is located at the same intersection just diagonally across the street from where the original church was located. The older congregational wood-frame building was built in 1888. The 1888 church does not exist anymore. The existing church as it stands now consists of the original building of 1930, a class room addition built in 1954, and a more recent Centennial Room Addition built in 1987.

St. Olaf Lutheran Church was designed by architect Joseph A. Shannon (1857-1934). Mr. Shannon was Devils Lake's first bona fide architect. The traditional design of the Late Gothic Revival St. Olaf Church symbolizes the doctrinal conservatism of the Norwegian Lutheran church and the cultural conservatism of the local Norwegian American community. St. Olaf Church shows Mr. Shannon was

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, September 2, 2023

2. St. Olaf Lutheran Church Marker

The marker is mounted on the left side of the south entrance.

adept at adopting the Late Gothic Revival style, emphasizing verticality with a steeply-pitched roof, tall bell-tower topped with a soaring spire, pointed arched windows and entrance, and a vaulted ceiling. His design also included Late Gothic Revival characteristic elements such as, the dark brick exterior with decorative light limestone decorative banding, use of ornate limestone door jambs, and two-tiered masonry buttresses with limestone trim.

St. Olaf Lutheran Church was historically associated with the ethnic Norwegian-Lutheran commercial, agricultural, and religious community in the Devils Lake area, within a historical context of the insularity and nationalist identity of the local Norwegian-American community. The Church’s architecture is a reflection of this association. The Norwegian immigrants adhered to their Lutheran heritage and the St. Olaf congregation adhered to its Norwegian identity and the Norwegian language. Services were exclusively in Norwegian until 1898. Until 1920, one-half of the services were in Norwegian and one-half were in English. In 1921, the church was identified as "St. Olaf's Norwegian Lutheran Church." By 1933, however, all services were in English, with only the occasional special communion services in Norwegian.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, September 2, 2023

3. St. Olaf Lutheran Church (southwest corner)

The St. Olaf Congregation was organized in 1885, and another congregation merged in 1887. A wood-frame church was built by 1888 at Sixth St. and Sixth Ave. in Devils Lake. In 1929 the lot diagonally across was purchased for a new, larger church, and despite the onset of the Great Depression the present church was built during 1930.

When Rev. O.H. Aaberg made his first missionary journey to Fort Totten in 1881, there was only one white family living north of Devils Lake. On a later journey in 1883, he found many Norwegian families in the Devils Lake area. In visiting with them, he became acutely aware of their yearning for a church of their own and promised to return to them the following summer to perform ministerial acts, such as baptisms, should there be need for them. The summer of 1884, he returned and conducted the first Lutheran service in Devils Lake on August 24, 1884. Services were again held September 7, November 23, and Christmas Day of that year, and on New Year’s Day, 1885. The following June, Rev. Aaberg moved to Devils Lake, and formally organized St. Olaf Congregation,

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, September 2, 2023

4. St. Olaf Lutheran Church Cornerstone — 1930

July 20, 1885. A constitution was adopted, and Rev. Aaberg accepted the call to be their first pastor.

St. Olaf grew to the point that, in the 1920’s, it was apparent that the congregation had outgrown its present building. On April 21, 1929, land for this new church was purchased diagonally across the intersection from their present building. The stock market crashed later that same year and our country entered the Great Depression; yet it was decided to go ahead and build the beautiful new structure that had been planned. Groundbreaking was held on April 6, 1930, and the new church was dedicated on October 19, 1930. It was truly a step of faith to build such a church when the nation’s economy was in a shambles.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, September 2, 2023

5. St. Olaf Lutheran Church (south elevation)

From the National Register Nomination:  The main front tower section is brick and consists of four walls. The four walls are flanked with 45 degree angled brick buttress at the four corners. The height of the brick tower section is approximately 50 feet. It is topped with a glass fenestration section, a solid roof spire section, and a cross. The clear glass fenestration on top of the brick section is eight sided. Each side is 10 feet wide and 13 feet high. The design of each window is Gothic.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, September 2, 2023

6. St. Olaf Lutheran Church (southwest elevation)