St. Joseph's Catholic Church (Egypt, Ohio)
Egypt Catholic Church and Rectory | |
NRHP reference No. | 79003455[1] |
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Added to NRHP | July 26, 1979 |
St. Joseph's Catholic Church is a historic Roman Catholic church in Egypt, Ohio, United States. Built in 1887, this church is home to a small Catholic parish, and it has been declared a historic site because of its well-preserved Gothic Revival architecture.
Early history
The original settlers of far southern Auglaize County were overwhelmingly Catholic.[2]: 334 At this period, prior to 1850,[3] the region was part of the Great Black Swamp; consequently, travel was extremely difficult. An unsubstantiated claim by a former preacher of St. Josephs Catholic Church suggests that Egypt was named by German immigrants in the early-1830s after a settler described the swampy area back then as being “made by a dab of mud that fell from the wheelbarrow of God.” However, the town name is actually derived from the hometown of the mother of a couple of the earliest pioneers in the area. John Henry Osterloh immigrated from a town called Halter in Lower Saxony, Germany. He purchased a farm in what would later become Egypt in 1829 – 1830. His mother was from Aegypten in Lower Saxony, Germany. John Henry Osterloh died from a typhus epidemic in 1833. One of his brothers, John Albert Osterloh (1814 – 1901) arrived in 1834 at the age of 20, took over possession of John Henry's farm, & continued purchasing more land surrounding it. The residents got tired of traveling nearly 4 miles to the town of Minster to get to church, so they petitioned to get one in Egypt in 1852 & St. Josephs Catholic Church was subsequently built. John Albert Osterloh donated land for the church & adjoining cemetery. Egypt's first settlers were members of St. Augustine's Church in Minster,[2]: 335 approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) to the east.[4] Because of the swampy character of the land, wheeled transit was nearly impossible; the men of the community could only travel to St. Augustine's on horseback, and the women and children were almost never able to worship at all. At the same time, the membership of St. Augustine's was growing to the point that its facilities were severely strained. Therefore, a movement arose for the creation of a separate parish in Egypt,[2]: 335 and in 1852, three men were sent to petition Archbishop Purcell for a separate church. The archbishop granted permission for the erection of the parish in that year; it was dedicated to St. Joseph, and subscriptions[a] soon raised $800 for the construction of a church.[2]: 336
Once the members had agreed on the basic architectural elements of their church, they summoned multiple
Architecture
By the late 1880s, the original church building had become insufficient for the parish's needs. Under the leadership of their elderly priest, John van den Brock, the parish erected a new church in 1887 at a cost of $5,000,
Goehr's design remained little changed until 1927, when the church was modified by the addition of a
Related buildings
Located immediately to the north of the church is a
Immediately to the north of the rectory is a parish cemetery, and slightly farther to the north is a former parish school. Located along the road between Minster and Maria Stein,[6] more than two miles to the northwest,[4] is part of the abandoned 1856 convent. Once three stories high, it has been reduced to one story, and its brick walls have been covered with modern siding.[6]
Recent history
In 1977, St. Joseph's Church and its rectory were recorded by the Ohio Historic Inventory, a
Although it was seen as doomed to closure, St. Joseph's Church was listed on the
Notes
^ a: The subscription process consisted of gathering pledges to pay money toward a stated goal; in this instance, the members of the church signed up to provide specific amounts of money for the construction of the church.[2]: 336
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i McMurray, William J., ed. History of Auglaize County Ohio. Vol. 1. Indianapolis: Historical Publishing Company, 1923.
- ^ 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.
- ^ ISBN 0-89933-281-1.
- ^ Ohio Historical Society, February 1977.
- ^ Ohio Historical Society, October 1977.
- ^ a b The Futures Project, Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Accessed 2010-06-05.
- ^ St. Augustine and St. Joseph Parishes, St. Augustine and St. Joseph Parishes, n.d. Accessed 2010-06-05.
- ^ a b c Brown, Mary Ann and Mary Niekamp. National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Cross-Tipped Churches Thematic Resources. National Park Service, July 1978. Accessed 2009-10-13.