Halfway Creek Lutheran Church

Halfway Creek was a thriving community east of Holmen in the Town of Onalaska. The area was dominated heavily by Norwegians who came together as a community of faith when they organized the Halfway Creek Lutheran Church.

Rev. Stub organized the Halfway Creek Lutheran Church along with the Lewis Valley, La Crosse Valley and Bostwick Valley churches.

After twelve years of in home worship, a church facility was contructed in 1868. The building served as a home for its congregation until 1912 when it was destroyed by fire. Today, a concrete slab rests in the center of Halfway Creek Cemetery marking the site of the original building.

The present church was built in 1913, east of the cemetery, on land donated by Abner Smith.

The oldest readable stone marks the death of Johannes Oelsen, 1840-1863.

The first parsonage was a log house located on 80 acres of land and purchased for $810.  A new log cabin was completed in 1861 while Dr. Lars Larson served as pastor on the Oscar Lee farm.  This parsonage housed the beginnings of the first Luther College, now located in Decorah, Iowa. An historical marker was erected in Halfway Creek Cemetery to mark where the college once stood.

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