Holy Rosary Catholic Church (St. Marys, Ohio)

Church in Ohio, United States

Holy Rosary Catholic Church

Front of the present Holy Rosary Church

Holy Rosary Catholic Church

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Holy Rosary Catholic Church

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40°32′42″N 84°22′58″W﻿ / ﻿40.54500°N 84.38278°W﻿ / 40.54500; -84.38278
Location| Junction of E. Spring and S. Pine Sts. in St. Marys, Ohio
Country| United States
Denomination| Roman Catholic
Website| www.holyrosarychurch.us
History
Founded| 1852 (1852)
Administration
Archdiocese| Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Deanery| St. Marys Deanery
Clergy
Pastor(s)| Rev. Barry Stechschulte

Holy Rosary Catholic Church

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Area| Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built| 1867
Demolished| 1978
MPS| Cross-Tipped Churches of Ohio TR
NRHP reference No.| 79003456[1]
Added to NRHP| July 26, 1979

Holy Rosary Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic parish on the east side of St. Marys, Ohio, United States. Established in 1852, the church has been recognized for its historic 1860s church building, which was demolished amid a period of growth in the 1970s and replaced with a modernist structure.

## Establishment[edit]

St. Marys' first Catholics settled in the community in 1831.[2] Their numbers greatly increased in the 1840s with the construction of the Miami and Erie Canal and of Grand Lake St. Marys.[3] At this time, large numbers of German Catholics were taking up residence in the plains of western Ohio near St. Marys, and priests of the Society of the Precious Blood became established in Minster,[4]: 7 about 10 miles (16 km) to the south of St. Marys.[5]: 45, 55 For twenty years, the community's Catholics often travelled to Minster for Mass;[2] this situation ended with the erection of Holy Rosary parish in 1852.[6] In its early years, the parish was administered in conjunction with St. Thomas parish in nearby Six Mile,[3] almost 5 miles (8.0 km) to the northeast.[5]: 45

## Growth[edit]

Appearance circa 1910

By 1854, the parishioners built their first church, a log structure, and the parish's property was expanded with the purchase of land for a cemetery and a small rectory in 1861. By this time, growth in membership rendered the church too small for the numbers of worshippers, but the parish was too poor to erect a replacement.[3] Under the leadership of Joseph Gregory Dwenger,[7] the parish received encouragement from Archbishop John Baptist Purcell, and other churches in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati contributed significant amounts of money for construction; the parish finished its new church in 1867 at a cost of $12,000.[3] Designed by Minster architect Anton Goehr, the new church was a simple rectangular brick structure with a bell tower,[4]: 2 supported by a stone foundation.[8] The original church was moved to the banks of the canal in downtown St. Marys.[4]: 2

As the parish continued to grow into the 1880s, a bell was added to the church's steeple, and a rectory was built at a cost of nearly $3,000. Non-Catholics in the community paid nearly half of the cost of erecting the rectory. Increased wealth among the parishioners and growing anti-Catholic sentiment in the region resulted in the foundation of a parish school in 1902.[3]

## New facilities[edit]

By the 1940s, the church had deteriorated significantly to the point that an extensive remodeling effort was necessary. Increased membership in the 1950s overcrowded the school building; a new school was built in its place in time for the 1957 schoolyear. By the late 1960s, this growth made the century-old church too small for its parish, and efforts to erect a new church began in 1969. With surveys revealing that nearly three in four parishioners wanted a new building, the original church was demolished in 1978; its replacement was finished in the following year. Some features of the original church, such as its organ and some of its windows, were preserved and included in the new construction.[3]

## Recognition[edit]

The 1867 church resembled the still-standing Holy Family Church in Frenchtown, Ohio[4]: 2

One year after its demolition, the church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural significance, along with nearly thirty other Catholic churches in the region of far western Ohio known as the "Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches."[1] Although more than thirty years have passed since the second building's destruction, it remains listed on the National Register.[1][8]

Since settlement in the middle of the 19th century, the Catholic Church has been a leading part of life in this region of the state, with its massive Gothic Revival churches in tiny farming communities among wide plains.[4]: 9 When Holy Rosary Church was first proposed for addition to the National Register in 1977, it was identified as one of the region's most significant Catholic churches built during the third quarter of the 19th century. Eight churches in the region were built during this period as simple rectangular brick structures with small bell towers, but only Holy Rosary and Holy Family Church in Frenchtown to the south retained their original appearance; the other six churches were modified by the addition of tall spires. Few churches in the region built before this time are yet in existence; only St. John's Catholic Church in Fryburg to the east has not been significantly changed, while Holy Rosary's first building, since converted to a canal-side house, is one of the few that have survived in any condition.[4]: 2

Holy Rosary remains an active parish of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. It is clustered with St. Patrick parish in Glynwood (the former St. Thomas parish[6]), and both churches are a part of the St. Marys Deanery.[9]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. ^ a b Williamson, C.W. History of Western Ohio and Auglaize County. Columbus: Linn and Sons, 1905, 667. Accessed 2009-11-09.
3. ^ a b c d e f Shuffelton, Frank B. "Holy Rosary Catholic Church". Auglaize County Historical Society, ed. A History of Auglaize County Ohio. Defiance: Hubbard, 1980, 211-212.
4. ^ a b c d e f Brown, Mary Ann and Mary Niekamp. National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Cross-Tipped Churches Thematic Resources. National Park Service, July 1978. Accessed 2009-11-21.
5. ^ a b DeLorme. Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer. 7th ed. Yarmouth: DeLorme, 2004. ISBN 0-89933-281-1.
6. ^ a b Fortin, Roger. Faith and Action: A History of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati 1821-1996 Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 2002, 400.
7. ^ McMurray, William J., ed. History of Auglaize County Ohio. Vol. 1. Indianapolis: Historical Publishing Company, 1923, 324.
8. ^ a b Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2010-03-22.
9. ^ The Futures Project, Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Accessed 2009-11-21.

## External links[edit]

* Parish website

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Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati

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Ordinaries of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Bishop|

* Edward Fenwick

Archbishops|

* John Baptist Purcell
* William Henry Elder
* Henry K. Moeller
* John T. McNicholas
* Karl Joseph Alter
* Paul Francis Leibold
* Joseph Bernardin
* Daniel Edward Pilarczyk
* Dennis Marion Schnurr

* Catholicism portal

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Churches in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Cathedral|

Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains

Parishes|

Cincinnati
Church of the Annunciation
Immaculata Church
Old St. Mary's Church
St. Aloysius on the Ohio
St. Francis De Sales Church
Saint Francis Seraph Church
St. Francis Xavier Church
St. Lawrence Church
St. Pius X Church
St. Rose Church

Dayton
Holy Cross Church
Sacred Heart Church
St. Adalbert Church
St. Mary's Church

Springfield
St. Joseph's Church
St. Raphael's Church

Other
Immaculate Conception Church, Botkins
St. Aloysius Church, Carthagena
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Cassella
Immaculate Conception Church, Celina
Precious Blood Church, Chickasaw
Our Lady of Victory Church, Delhi Township
St. Joseph's Church, Egypt
Holy Family Church, Frenchtown
St. John's Church, Fryburg
St. Patrick's Church, Glynwood
St. John the Baptist Church, Maria Stein
Sacred Heart Church, McCartyville
St. Michael's Church, Mechanicsburg
St. Augustine's Church, Minster
St. Louis Church, North Star
St. Nicholas Church, Osgood
St. Anthony's Church, Padua
St. Remy's Church, Russia
St. Henry's Church, St. Henry
Holy Rosary Church, St. Marys
St. Rose's Church, St. Rose
St. Sebastian's Church, Sebastian
St. Joseph's Church, Wapakoneta

Former parishes|

All Saints Church, Cincinnati
Holy Trinity Church, Cincinnati
St. Augustine Church, Cincinnati
St. George's Church, Cincinnati
St. Michael the Archangel Church, Cincinnati
St. Paul Church, Cincinnati
St. Philomena's Church, Cincinnati
St. Patrick's Church, St. Patrick

Shrine|

Shrine of the Holy Relics

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Education in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Higher education|

Chatfield College
University of Dayton
Edgecliff College
Mount St. Joseph University
Xavier University

Seminary|

Athenaeum of Ohio – Mount St. Mary's Seminary of the West

High schools|

Cincinnati
DePaul Cristo Rey High School
Elder High School
La Salle High School
Mercy McAuley High School
Archbishop McNicholas High School
Purcell Marian High School
Seton High School
St. Ursula Academy
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Summit Country Day School
Ursuline Academy

Dayton
Carroll High School
Chaminade Julienne High School

Other
Archbishop Alter High School, Kettering
Father Stephen T. Badin High School, Hamilton
Catholic Central School, Springfield
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Lehman Catholic High School, Sidney
Moeller High School, Kenwood
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Royalmont Academy, Mason
Roger Bacon High School, St. Bernard
St. Rita School for the Deaf, Evendale

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Clergy of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Auxiliary bishops|

* Sylvester Horton Rosecrans
* Joseph H. Albers
* George John Rehring
* Paul Francis Leibold
* Edward A. McCarthy
* Nicholas Elko
* Daniel Edward Pilarczyk
* James Henry Garland
* Carl K. Moeddel
* Joseph R. Binzer

Priests|

* John Martin Henni
* Edward Fitzgerald
* Clarence George Issenmann
* Henry Damian Juncker
* Joshua Maria Young
* John Baptist Lamy
* James Frederick Wood
* John Henry Luers
* Caspar Henry Borgess
* Richard Gilmour
* John Quinlan
* Augustus Toebbe
* Joseph Gregory Dwenger
* Henry Richter
* Francis Beckman
* Urban John Vehr
* Francis Augustine Thill
* Anthony John King Mussio
* John Joseph Kaising
* Robert Daniel Conlon
* Michael William Warfel
* Earl K. Fernandes

Miscellany|

The Catholic Telegraph
Der Wahrheitsfreund
Former St. Charles Seminary
Gruenwald Convent
Minster Elementary School
St. John Cemetery, Cincinnati
New St. Joseph Cemetery, Cincinnati
Old St. Joseph's Cemetery, Cincinnati

* Catholicism portal

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U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Topics|

* Architectural style categories
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Lists by state|

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Other areas|

* District of Columbia
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Related|

* National Historic Preservation Act
* Historic Preservation Fund
* List of jails and prisons on the National Register of Historic Places
* University and college buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places

* National Register of Historic Places portal
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Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches

Churches|

* Holy Family
* Holy Rosary
* Coldwater Catholic Church Complex
* Immaculate Conception
* Nativity of the Virgin
* St. Aloysius
* St. Anthony
* St. Augustine
* St. Bernard
* St. Francis
* St. Henry
* St. John
* St. John the Baptist
* St. Joseph (Egypt)
* St. Joseph (St. Joe)
* St. Joseph (Wapakoneta)
* St. Louis
* St. Mary
* St. Michael
* St. Nicholas
* St. Patrick (Glynwood)
* St. Patrick (St. Patrick)
* St. Paul
* St. Peter
* St. Remy
* St. Rose
* St. Sebastian
* St. Wendelin

Other buildings|

* Botkins Elementary School
* Chickasaw School and Rectory
* Gruenwald Convent
* Immaculate Conception Rectory
* Maria Stein Convent
* Minster Elementary School
* Sacred Heart of Jesus Rectory
* St. Charles Seminary and Chapel

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National Register of Historic Places in Auglaize County, Ohio

National Historic
Landmark|

* Miami and Erie Canal Deep Cut

Historic district|

* Wapakoneta Commercial Historic District

Other
properties|

* Auglaize County Courthouse
* Blume High School
* Adolph Boesel House
* Julius Boesel House
* Egypt Catholic Church and Rectory
* First Presbyterian Church of Wapakoneta
* H.E. Fledderjohann House, Doctor's Office and Summer Kitchen
* Fort Amanda Site
* The Fountain Hotel
* Glynnwood Catholic Church
* Holy Rosary Catholic Church
* William Luelleman House
* Minster Elementary School
* John H. Nichols House
* Hugh T. Rinehart House
* Round Barn
* St. Augustine Catholic Church
* St. John Catholic Church and Parish Hall
* St. Joseph Catholic Church and School
* Uniopolis Town Hall
* Dr. Issac Elmer Williams House and Office
* Charles Wintzer Building

See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Auglaize County, Ohio and List of National Historic Landmarks in Ohio
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