Trinity United Church of Christ, located on Highway 14 between La Crosse and Coon Valley, was founded by Swiss immigrants in 1865.
In the early 1840s, the first Swiss immigrants came to Mormon Coulee. The first formal church services in the Swiss colony were organized in the late 1850s. These early services kept in line with their Reformed Church heritage and culminated in the official founding of the Trinity United Church of Christ on September 7th, 1865. On that date, Wisconsin Secretary of State Lucius Fairchild signed the application for a charter that had been signed by Trinity members Peter Kienholz, John Anderegg, John, Casper and Peter Schild, John Hugger, Melchoir Eggler, Christian Schmocker and Christian Ott.
The first church was built in 1866 on land donated by Peter Kienholz. Trinity’s first resident pastor, the Rev. C.H. Schoepplle, came in 1879. In 1894, property was first purchased from Casper Eggler for $1200 and the original church structure was moved onto the newly acquired land. Shortly thereafter, a school room and tower were added and a cemetery was plotted as well. A new church was constructed in 1906.
A Ladies Aid Society was formed in 1910, and became the Women’s Guild in 1938. Joint services between Trinity and Zion Reformed Church of Hokah, Minnesota, began in 1934 and continued until 1964, when the United Church of Christ created a state-line boundary system. Extensive remodeling and renovation of the church took place in 1932 and again in 1946. The one-story brick building that currently serves the congregation was built in 1969.
