Egypt is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in western Jackson Township

Jackson Township, Auglaize County, Ohio

Jackson Township is one of the fourteen townships of Auglaize County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 3,577 people in the township, 776 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...

, Auglaize County

Auglaize County, Ohio

As of the census of 2000, there were 46,611 people, 17,376 households, and 12,771 families residing in the county. The population density was 116 people per square mile . There were 18,470 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Located at 40°23′8"N 84°25′59"W (40.3856031, -84.4330070), the community sits at an elevation of 971 feet (296 m), approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the village of Minster

Minster, Ohio

Minster is a village in Auglaize County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,794 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Wapakoneta, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area...

.

Egypt's first settlers were Roman Catholic immigrants from Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. In the community's earliest years, travel in the vicinity was extremely difficult due to the muck of the Great Black Swamp

Great Black Swamp

The Great Black Swamp, or simply Black Swamp, was a glacially caused wetland in northwest Ohio, United States, extending into extreme northeastern Indiana, that existed from the end of the Wisconsin glaciation until the late 19th century...

. According to an early twentieth century history of the community, the name "Egypt" was given by one of the early pioneers, who is said to have remarked that "this place was made of a dab of mud that fell from the wheelbarrow of God when He made the world and therefore it ought to be called 'Egypt'". Because the people of the community could only attend church in Minster with great difficulty, they made a petition for a church in Egypt; accordingly, St. Joseph's Catholic Church

St. Joseph's Catholic Church (Egypt, Ohio)

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....

 was organized in 1852.

Egypt has always been small; its people were collectively able to raise only eight hundred dollars for the construction of their new church in 1852, and today only a single business is located in the community. It is distinguished by St. Joseph's Church, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1979. The community also includes a cemetery

Cemetery

A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

, as well as the site of a former school.