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St Nazianz Wisconsin Downtown 2016Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · St. Nazianz

St. Nazianz dates to 1854, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Loreto Shrine Chapel, the St. Gregory's Church and the St. Mary's Convent. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1960.

1854founded
3on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How St. Nazianz began

When was St. Nazianz founded?

1854

St. Nazianz dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1960.

First census: 669 in 19602020 census: 714172 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓

What stands out about St. Nazianz’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of St. Nazianz are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start St. Nazianz’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. Nazianz’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How St. Nazianz came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. Nazianz.

Read it all →

St. Nazianz was organized in 1854 as a religious colony by a group of German immigrants, led by Father Ambrose Oschwald, a Roman Catholic priest. The first settlers in the Oschwald group numbered 113 and came to the United States from the Black Forest of Baden, Germany, seeking religious freedom.

Oschwald and his group sailed for America on the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1854, on two separate ships. The voyage of one lasted 52 days, and the other 55 days. By the time they arrived in Milwaukee by train, several of the group had died. Oschwald bought 3,840 acres (15.5 km2) of land in Manitowoc County for $3.50 per acre. His down payment was $1,500, with the rest paid in five installments.

Chapters19th century2000 weather incident

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

St. Nazianz, 1854 to 1954

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854
    FoundingSt. Nazianz is established
  3. 1864BuiltSt. Gregory's Church is built
  4. 1865BuiltSt. Mary's Convent is built
  5. 1870BuiltLoreto Shrine Chapel is built
  6. 1870Post officeThe Saint Nazianz post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

St. Nazianz, decade by decade

Today3 recent
St.NazianzWisconsinSign2006St.NazianzWisconsinSignWIMap-doton-St Nazianz2004WIMap-doton-St NazianzTornado damage in2000Tornado damage in
On the map

St. Nazianz on the map, 1954 to 1992

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Nazianz. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

St. Nazianz on the 1954 USGS mapSt. Nazianz on the 1978 USGS mapSt. Nazianz on the 1992 USGS map1954Reedsville sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of St. Nazianz.

On the National Register

3 historic places in St. Nazianz

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Loreto Shrine Chapel
Loreto Shrine Chapel, built 1870St. Gregory's Church, built 1864St. Mary's Convent, built 1865
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Country Church Gothic1
Loreto Shrine ChapelBuilt 1870
St. Gregory's ChurchCountry Church Gothic · Built 1864
St. Mary's ConventBuilt 1865

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

St. Nazianz, census by census

02004006008001960198020002020Peak: 783

Between 669 and 783 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Nazianz’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to St. Nazianz

Nobody well known was born in St. Nazianz itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Thorstein VeblenAmerican economist and sociologist · b. 1857
E
Eda Nemoede CastertonAmerican artist · b. 1877
Francis E. McGovernAmerican politician · b. 1866
Thomas P. M. BarnettAmerican military geostrategist · b. 1962
L
Logan Vander VeldenAmerican basketball player · b. 1971
Luke GoedekeAmerican football player · b. 1998
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint Nazianz
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside St. Nazianz
Saint GregorySociety of the Divine Savior

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

LibertyIts storyBEatonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about St. Nazianz’s history

What year was St. Nazianz founded?

In 1854, according to Wikidata. St. Nazianz’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1960 counted 669 people here.

What is on the National Register in St. Nazianz?

Three places: the Loreto Shrine Chapel (listed 1982), the St. Gregory's Church (1982) and the St. Mary's Convent (2001).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.