St. Joseph's Catholic Church (Egypt, Ohio)
Encyclopedia
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
.
were overwhelmingly Catholic. At this period, prior to 1850, the region was part of the Great Black Swamp
; consequently, travel was extremely difficult. For this reason, it is reported that the small community west of Minster
was called "Egypt" — a pioneer 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.'"
Egypt's first settlers were members of St. Augustine's Church in Minster, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) to the east. 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, 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 soon raised $800 for the construction of a church.
Once the members had agreed on the basic architectural elements of their church, they summoned multiple contractors
for the bidding
process. Each of the contractors independently named $800 as the cost of erecting the new church; consequently, parishioner Henry Rolfes was placed in charge after he named his price at just $300 and the cost of some materials. Even after the cost of all materials was deducted, enough money remained to pay a priest for the first year. Originally, the parish had no priest of its own; Mass
was typically celebrated by priests from St. John's
in Maria Stein
or St. Augustine's in Minster. After four years, a rectory
and a female convent
were built near the church, and the parish obtained a resident pastor
for the first time. Since its earliest years, St. Joseph's Church has been served by the Society of the Precious Blood
.
d roof of asphalt. Its floor plan is the shape of a Latin cross
, three bays
wide and six bays long, and the entire building reflects the Gothic Revival
style of architecture. Inside, the church is ornamented with fresco
es on the walls and a heavily decorated ceiling, and the altars
are built in a revivalistic form of the Gothic
style. Worshippers enter the church through an arched doorway in the base of the tower.
Goehr's design remained little changed until 1927, when the church was modified by the addition of a tower
and a sacristy
. Although the sacristy remains in place, the tower was further modified in the 1940s by the replacement of its spire
with a small domed belfry
.
. After the male and female members of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood became two separate organizations, the male organization donated all of its Egypt properties to the female organization, leaving St. Joseph's Church without a rectory. When a replacement rectory was completed in 1912, it had cost $6,000 plus extensive labor on the part of the parishioners. The resulting structure is a two-and-a-half story
square brick structure, built on a stone foundation and topped with an asphalt hip roof
with a dormer window
. Many other Catholic churches in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati
built rectories around this time, due to a directive from the archbishop; like the one at Egypt, they are typically square brick houses with wrap-around porches. These buildings typically resemble the style of houses purchased through the Sears Roebuck catalogues of the period.
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, more than two miles to the northwest, 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
.
program of the Ohio Historical Society
. Both buildings were found to be in good condition, but both were seen as endangered by the weak state of the parish that owned them. St. Joseph's Church was one of the smallest parishes in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and priest shortage
s in the American Catholic Church meant that small parishes such as St. Joseph's were not likely to be able to have their own pastors; consequently, it was believed that the church would close by 1982. Eventually, this plan was cancelled; St. Joseph's Church is still an active parish of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. It is clustered with St. Augustine's Church in Minster and served by the same priest, and the cluster is part of the St. Marys Deanery
.
Although it was seen as doomed to closure, St. Joseph's Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1979 because of its well-preserved historic architecture; the rectory was also included in the nomination. These buildings were part of a collection of nearly thirty churches and various other church-related buildings, designated the "Cross-Tipped Churches Thematic Resources," a multiple property submission of properties in western Ohio related to the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. Architectural historians have divided these churches into four generations; St. Joseph's is a member of the second generation, which are generally simple rectangular brick buildings without tall spires. Many churches from this generation, such as St. Joseph's and St. Anthony's
in Padua
, were later expanded by the addition of a single tower at the front of the building, due to the prevalence of such towers at the construction of newer churches. Few churches from before this period survive; only St. John's in Fryburg to the northwest and St. Augustine's in Minster remain churches, and St. Augustine's has been greatly modified by the addition of twin towers. Because most churches in this region are tall Gothic Revival structures with large towers, the region has become known as the "Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches
."
Egypt, Ohio
Egypt is an unincorporated community in western Jackson Township, Auglaize County, Ohio, United States. Located at , the community sits at an elevation of 971 feet , approximately west of the village of Minster....
, 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...
. Built in 1887, this church is home to a small Catholic parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
, and it has been declared a historic site
Historic site
A historic site is an official location where pieces of political, military or social history have been preserved. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have recognized with the official national historic site status...
because of its well-preserved Gothic Revival architecture
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
.
Early history
The original settlers of far southern Auglaize CountyAuglaize 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...
were overwhelmingly Catholic. At this period, prior to 1850, the region was part 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...
; consequently, travel was extremely difficult. For this reason, it is reported that the small community west 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...
was called "Egypt" — a pioneer 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.'"
Egypt's first settlers were members of St. Augustine's Church in Minster, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) to the east. 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, and in 1852, three men were sent to petition Archbishop Purcell
John Baptist Purcell
John Baptist Purcell was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Cincinnati from 1833 until his death in 1883, and was elevated to the rank of Archbishop in 1850.-Biography:...
for a separate church. The archbishop granted permission for the erection of the parish in that year; it was dedicated to St. Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
, and subscriptions soon raised $800 for the construction of a church.
Once the members had agreed on the basic architectural elements of their church, they summoned multiple contractors
General contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
for the bidding
Bidding
Bidding is an offer of setting a price one is willing to pay for something. A price offer is called a bid. The term may be used in context of auctions, stock exchange, card games, or real estate transactions....
process. Each of the contractors independently named $800 as the cost of erecting the new church; consequently, parishioner Henry Rolfes was placed in charge after he named his price at just $300 and the cost of some materials. Even after the cost of all materials was deducted, enough money remained to pay a priest for the first year. Originally, the parish had no priest of its own; Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
was typically celebrated by priests from St. John's
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church (Maria Stein, Ohio)
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church is a historic Roman Catholic church in Marion Township, Mercer County, Ohio, United States. Located in the unincorporated community of Maria Stein, it is the home of an active congregation and has been recognized as a historic site because of its well-preserved...
in Maria Stein
Maria Stein, Ohio
Maria Stein is an unincorporated community in central Marion Township, Mercer County, Ohio, United States. The community and the Maria Stein Convent lie at the center of the area known as the Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches, where a missionary priest, Father Francis de Sales Brunner,...
or St. Augustine's in Minster. After four years, a rectory
Rectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
and a female convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
were built near the church, and the parish obtained a resident pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
for the first time. Since its earliest years, St. Joseph's Church has been served by the Society of the Precious Blood
Missionaries of the Precious Blood
The Missionaries of the Precious Blood form a community of priests and brothers within the Latin Church, one of the 23 sui iuris churches which make up the universal Catholic Church. The Society was founded by Saint Gaspar del Bufalo in 1815...
.
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, according to a design by Anton Goehr. This building's walls are built of brick, supported by a stone foundation with a basement and topped with a gableGable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d roof of asphalt. Its floor plan is the shape of a Latin cross
Christian cross
The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity...
, three bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
wide and six bays long, and the entire building reflects the Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style of architecture. Inside, the church is ornamented with fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es on the walls and a heavily decorated ceiling, and the altars
Altar (Catholicism)
In the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, the altar is where the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered. Mass may sometimes be celebrated outside a sacred place, but never without an altar, or at least an altar stone.-Precedent:...
are built in a revivalistic form of the Gothic
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
style. Worshippers enter the church through an arched doorway in the base of the tower.
Goehr's design remained little changed until 1927, when the church was modified by the addition of a tower
Steeple (architecture)
A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, often topped by a spire. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure...
and a sacristy
Sacristy
A sacristy is a room for keeping vestments and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.The sacristy is usually located inside the church, but in some cases it is an annex or separate building...
. Although the sacristy remains in place, the tower was further modified in the 1940s by the replacement of its spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
with a small domed belfry
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
.
Related buildings
Located immediately to the north of the church is a rectoryRectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
. After the male and female members of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood became two separate organizations, the male organization donated all of its Egypt properties to the female organization, leaving St. Joseph's Church without a rectory. When a replacement rectory was completed in 1912, it had cost $6,000 plus extensive labor on the part of the parishioners. The resulting structure is a two-and-a-half story
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
square brick structure, built on a stone foundation and topped with an asphalt hip roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
with a dormer window
Dormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
. Many other Catholic churches in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati covers the southwest region of the U.S. state of Ohio, including the greater Cincinnati and Dayton metropolitan areas. The Archbishop of Cincinnati is Most Rev...
built rectories around this time, due to a directive from the archbishop; like the one at Egypt, they are typically square brick houses with wrap-around porches. These buildings typically resemble the style of houses purchased through the Sears Roebuck catalogues of the period.
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, more than two miles to the northwest, 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
Siding
Siding is the outer covering or cladding of a house meant to shed water and protect from the effects of weather. On a building that uses siding, it may act as a key element in the aesthetic beauty of the structure and directly influence its property value....
.
Recent history
In 1977, St. Joseph's Church and its rectory were recorded by the Ohio Historic Inventory, a historic preservationHistoric preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
program of the Ohio Historical Society
Ohio Historical Society
The Ohio Historical Society is a non-profit organization incorporated in 1885 as The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society "to promote a knowledge of archaeology and history, especially in Ohio"...
. Both buildings were found to be in good condition, but both were seen as endangered by the weak state of the parish that owned them. St. Joseph's Church was one of the smallest parishes in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and priest shortage
Priest shortage
A priest shortage is the situation of a reduced number of priests in religions, especially the Roman Catholic Church.In 2008, 49,631 parishes in the world had no resident priest pastor. While the number of Catholics in the world nearly doubled between 1970 and 2008, growing from 653 Million to...
s in the American Catholic Church meant that small parishes such as St. Joseph's were not likely to be able to have their own pastors; consequently, it was believed that the church would close by 1982. Eventually, this plan was cancelled; St. Joseph's Church is still an active parish of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. It is clustered with St. Augustine's Church in Minster and served by the same priest, and the cluster is part of the St. Marys Deanery
Deanery
A Deanery is an ecclesiastical entity in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of a Dean.- Catholic usage :...
.
Although it was seen as doomed to closure, St. Joseph's Church was listed on 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 because of its well-preserved historic architecture; the rectory was also included in the nomination. These buildings were part of a collection of nearly thirty churches and various other church-related buildings, designated the "Cross-Tipped Churches Thematic Resources," a multiple property submission of properties in western Ohio related to the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. Architectural historians have divided these churches into four generations; St. Joseph's is a member of the second generation, which are generally simple rectangular brick buildings without tall spires. Many churches from this generation, such as St. Joseph's and St. Anthony's
St. Anthony's Catholic Church (Padua, Ohio)
St. Anthony's Catholic Church is a historic Roman Catholic church in Padua, an unincorporated community in Washington Township, Mercer County, Ohio, United States...
in Padua
Padua, Ohio
Padua is an unincorporated community in western Washington Township, Mercer County, Ohio, United States. It lies at the intersection of State Route 49 and St. Anthony Road, west of the city of Celina, the county seat of Mercer County...
, were later expanded by the addition of a single tower at the front of the building, due to the prevalence of such towers at the construction of newer churches. Few churches from before this period survive; only St. John's in Fryburg to the northwest and St. Augustine's in Minster remain churches, and St. Augustine's has been greatly modified by the addition of twin towers. Because most churches in this region are tall Gothic Revival structures with large towers, the region has become known as the "Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches
Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches
The Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches is a rural region in the western part of the U.S. state of Ohio, centered near Maria Stein in Mercer County. Its name is derived from the dense concentration of large Catholic churches that dominate the area's architecture...
."