A church was built by Norwegian settlers in Luther Valley (in the town of Newark / northeast part of Avon).

The evidence

• “A nucleus was early formed in the town of Newark, near where the town corners with the towns of Plymouth, Avon and Spring Valley, in a beautiful valley, christened by the early Norwegian settlers, Luther Valley. A church was built in the year 1847, and a few years after a village laid out callad Bornitz, which, however, is not place of any considerable importance ; the majority of the Norwegians being agriculturists. There is, however, a printing office there, from which is published the Emigranten, a respectable newspaper, which has until lately been the only permanent Scandinavian newspaper in the United States.”

  1856-history-of-rock-county/05-avon.md, PDF p. 62 / book p. 44

  Guernsey, Orrin, and Josiah F. Willard, editors. History of Rock County, and Transactions of the Rock County Agricultural Society and Mechanics' Institute. Janesville, Wis.: William M. Doty & Brother, 1856. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871593.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources

  

• “Some of the pioneers of this town were Norwegians. In a beautiful valley in the northeast part of Avon, which they christened Luther Valley, they built a church in 1847, and, a few years after, laid out a village, calling it Bornitz. Rev.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/13-rock-county-ch07-town-histories.md, PDF p. 498

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources · may repeat 1856-history-of-rock-county, so not counted as independent

  

• “At first the Luther Valley people of course had to worship in private houses, but a church was built in 1847, It was of lime stone and rather small, but served until 1871, when it was torn down and a new and larger one built on its site. At the same time another church was built in the western part of the congregation.”

  1908-brown-rock-county/13-beloit-churches.md, Vol. 1, PDF p. 307 / book p. 281

  Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources