St. Peters Chapel

The St. Peters Chapel was built in 1869 on grounds next to the St. Peters Cemetery on S. 68th Street, just south of Loomis Road. The congregation was founded by the William Boldt, Fred Mueller, Gustave Wendt, John Brown, Charles Spies, Albert Neske, Ernest Kelm and Bertram families who chose to break away from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church on S. 51st Street. In 1874, the typical Sunday collection was 13 cents. The church also served as a school for a time with Rev. Blankenhein, who had living quarters above the Chapel, acting as pastor and teacher.

Since its inception in 1869, the cemetery maintenance was overseen by Fred Mueller and his son who kept records of everyone buried there. The last funeral service held in the Chapel was for Ernest Kelm in 1925. From June 1939 to May 1940 the Chapel was rented by a Hales Corners Lutheran congregation until construction of their Whitnall Park Lutheran Church was completed.

For approximately 25 years, St. Peters Chapel maintained a quiet vigil north of the cemetery. Finally in 1983, the Chapel was recognized as a Franklin landmark, moved to Legend Park, and restored to its original state of the 1860s. Heated by a pot-bellied stove and lit by kerosene lamps, the Chapel is the scene of nondenominational Christmas services each December. The Chapel is also available for weddings and other special events through the Franklin Historical Society.