Old St. Mary's Church (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Old St. Mary's Church, School and Rectory | |
Location | 123 E. 13th St., Cincinnati, Ohio |
---|---|
Coordinates | 39°06′34″N 84°30′45″W / 39.10944°N 84.51250°W |
Area | 1.9 acres (0.77 ha) |
Built | 1841 |
Architect | Franz Ignatz Erd |
Architectural style | Greek Revival, Late Victorian |
Part of | Over-the-Rhine Historic District (ID83001985) |
NRHP reference No. | 76001439[1] |
Added to NRHP | March 13, 1976 |
Old St. Mary's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Cincinnati's historic
Old St. Mary's is the oldest church in
Designed in the
History
The parent parish was
In 1840, German immigrants were arriving in Cincinnati at the rate of 200 per day. Many of the men donated their own labor to build the church, making the bricks by hand.[4] The number of German immigrants increased in mid-century, with many arriving after the 1848 revolutions in various principalities.
The St. Clair estate was acquired and the cornerstone was laid March 25, 1841 by Bishop Purcell. Father Clemens Hammer was the first pastor. St. Mary's has the oldest clock tower in Cincinnati. In 1842, a clock was installed in the steeple of St. Mary's. The first bell was blessed and placed in the tower in 1843. For many years it served as the fire alarm for the northeastern section of the city.[5]
A new organ was installed in 1846. A parish school was opened in 1844 and in 1846 the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur came to teach. In 1852 a school for boys was opened, staffed by the Marianist brothers. In May through August 1849, during the cholera epidemic in Cincinnati, 796 parishioners of St. Mary's died. There were 345 funerals in July.
The church was enlarged in 1865, and remodeled in 1890. The term "Old" was added to the name of this church in 1904 after St. Mary's in Hyde Park (Cincinnati) was founded.[3] In 1929, a second organ, from the Austin Organs was donated to the church.[6]
The three buildings of the Old St. Mary's parish complex were listed together on the
Pastors
- Rev. Clemens Hammer (1842-1860)
- Rev. B. Elkman (1861-1881)
- Rev. B.J. Menge (1881-1897)
- Rev. Bernard Moeller (1898-1915)
- Rev. Joseph T. Duerstock (1916-1941)
- Very Rev. Jon-Paul Bevak (2016-present)
Present day
The parish practices a full range of the rich liturgical, musical, and cultural heritages of the Roman Catholic tradition. Mass is offered in Latin and English every weekday, and in Latin, German, and English every Sunday. The Latin Mass features a schola of professional singers who provide music from the Church's treasury of sacred music each Sunday October through June and on special feast days.
Old St. Mary’s Church is the Oratory Church and main base of activity. The Oratorians also has care of Sacred Heart Church in Camp Washington.[14]
References
- ^ a b c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ Clark, S. J. (1912). Cincinnati, the Queen City, 1788-1912, Volume 2. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 452. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
- ^ a b "All Saints through Saint Ann". Profiles of Roman Catholic Parishes in Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Archived from the original on October 13, 2006.
- ^ "Old St. Mary's Church Official Website". Archived from the original on November 21, 2006. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
- ^ "Old St. Mary's Church", Cincy Region
- ^ "Opus 1702", Austin Organs, Inc.
- Ohio Historical Society, 2010. Accessed 2010-11-10.
- Good Samaritan School of Nursing, The Victorian. Cincinnati, Ohio: U.S. GenWeb project. 1930. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
- ^ Parish Archives, The History of Old St. Mary Church (from the 1942 Anniversary Edition). Archived 2008-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Bishop Joseph Henry Albers, Deceased", Catholic Hierarchy.
- Time Magazine
- ^ PNSI 2/16 Title: Detroit Michigan Catholic - Archbishop Edward Mooney and Bishop Joseph H. Albers of Lansing 1937/0826
- ^ "History of the Diocese", Faith Magazine, Diocese of Lansing
- ^ The Cincinnati Oratory
Further reading
- Cincinnati, a Guide to the Queen City and Its Neighbors, American Guide Series, The Weisen-Hart Press, May 1943, p. 213