First Lutheran Church

The First Lutheran Church at 619 Broadway was built in 1919 after a merger between First Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church and St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church. The English Gothic Revival style church was built by Minneapolis architecture firm Magney and Tussler. The corner stone of the church was laid by Reverend I. D. Ylvisaker, the president of the Norwegian Church of America.

The congregation of First Lutheran Church of Fargo dates back to 1871. The early congregation members were mostly Norwegian immigrants who had moved to Fargo from Rice County in Minnesota.

The church’s first service was held in the basement on Christmas Day. Services in the main sanctuary began after construction was completed in 1920. After the congregation moved to the current location on Broadway, their former church on the 400 block of Roberts Street, was dismantled and replaced with a funeral home.

Sources:

1. Fargo Historic Preservation Commission. A Look Around Downtown: Fargo Heritage Discovery Walk. Second. Fargo, North Dakota: Fargo-Moorhead Heritage Society, 2006.
2. “First Lutheran Church | Fargo History.” Accessed December 9, 2016. https://library.ndsu.edu/fargo-history/?q=content/first-lutheran-church.

Photo Sources:

1. “First Lutheran Church Celebration Center| CRG.” Wild | CRG. Accessed December 9, 2016. http://wildcrg.com/portfolio/first-lutheran-church-celebration-center/.
2. Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo (rs006816)
3. Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo (2006.46.30)
4. Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo (2054.15.46)
5. State Historical Society of North Dakota (00075-571)