Churches 6

 ST. FRANCIS SERAPH ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SCHOOL

   The city's first Catholic Church, Christ Church, was constructed at this location in 1819. Located at the n.w.cor. of Liberty and Vine St. In the early 1920s Christ Church was moved downtown next to the present day St. Xavier Church on Sycamore St. and operated until  the St. Peter the Apostle Cathedral was completed next door in 1826. The lot at Liberty and Vines sts. became a Catholic cemetery. St. Francis Seraph Roman Catholic Church was begun in 1858 as a friary, college, and church  in a rented house on Vine St. The church, dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, was consecrated December 18, 1859. The bodies in the cemetery were reinterred in a crypt below the church and the tombstones were used for the floor. The other building you see above is the school and convent located across Vine St. at 14 East Liberty St. that was erected in 1906-1908. The Friary was built on Republic St. behind the church.

Liberty and Vine Streets

*                       
Real Photo Postcard                                                                                                                                                 

       
2 photographs of buildings today

                       
                                                                                                               7 & 8th grade students

   The 2nd card above was a souvenir postcard celebrating the 50th anniversary of the consecration of the church in 1859.

                                
                                St. Francis De Sales in Walnut Hills                                                    Not a Postcard

                   
                                                                  RPPC

   The image below shows the bell for St. Francis De Sales church at 1600 Madison Road being moved from the foundry to the church in 1895. Called "Big Joe" it was only rung once because the massive bells E-Flat peal was so loud it shattered windows and shook the surrounding buildings.

These are not postcards
           
     Moving Big Joe                        Raising Big Joe

               
St. Gabriel Catholic Church.  Glendale

   The cornerstone for the first Roman Catholic Church in Glendale was laid in July of 1859, although the interior was not completed until 1862. The roof and steeple were torn off in a cyclone on June 14, 1880. In May of 1907 a new church replaced the old one (seen above). It is located at 46 W. Sharon Avenue. The last image above is a non-postcard view of what it looks like today.

                *      *
                                      St George Church.  Calhoun St.  Clifton Heights                                            

   St. George Church was designed by Samuel Hannaford and began services in 1873 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1933 it was closed as a church and has been used as a coffeehouse, and as a community meeting center. In the first photograph above you can see how the surrounding community of homes were razed for the construction of  the University of Cincinnati's Sander Hall. In 2008 the 135 year old structure caught fire and completely destroyed its two steeples. You can see this damage in the 3rd non-postcard image above.
   Developers have decided to convert the church into a boutique hotel. They want to name the hotel the St. George House and it would contain between 50 to 70 rooms. The process of securing funds is now underway (March 2013).  

                        
        St. John Baptist                                      St. Johns Catholic Church
           Harrison                                                 & School. Harrison.

 

St. Ignatius Interior 

 

               
St. John's Lutheran   Reading

 

St. John's Evangelical Protestant Harrison

 

                       
St. John's Evangelical  Protestant  n. w. cor. 12th and Elm Sts.

   St. John's at 12th and Elm was the first German-American congregation in Cincinnati, formed in 1814. The congregation moved to Resor Avenue in Clifton in 1946. The church  then became the home for the Greater Apostolic Bethlehem Temple Church. That congregation moved to Hamilton Avenue near the College Hill-Northside border in the 1990s. It has remained vacant since then. It will now (2014) be converted into an event center. The last image is a photograph. You will notice from the date the church turns 200 this year (2014).

                                   
                    St. John's Catholic Church Green & Bremen Sts.                                      St. John's Catholic Church
                                                                                                                                              Deer Park

   Thanks to Fr. Dale Peterka who informs me that he lives here and this card contains incorrect information. The St. Johns Church shown here is not in Silverton but is actually in Deer Park along the border with Silverton. He also informs me that the church in the first card above was torn down in 1971. There is a park now at this location (Green and Republic).

Not a postcard                                                                                          
               

St. Joseph's Church  corner of Linn & Laurel St.

                       
  These three cards show the raising of the churches bells.

St. Lawrence church in Price Hill

   St. Lawrence Church was the first Catholic church built in Price Hill. A smaller version was Dedicated June 12, 1870 with the edifice seen in these cards was completed by 1893. The highest tower is 189.5 feet high. The 5th image above is a non-postcard image of the church as it looks today.

  *
St. Luke Church
Findlay & Baymiller

*         
Old St. Mark Catholic in Evanston

                       
                                    New St. Mark Catholic in Evanston.                        Not a postcard

St. Mark Protestant Episcopal
Oakley

                                       
St. Mark's Evangelical Protestant                                                  St. Leo  Fairmount  St. Leo Pl. & Baltimore Ave.                                                  

   The last two images above are recent non-postcard views.

                       
St. Mary's Downtown          Altar Painting                     The Sanctuary                      Not a Postcard           

   Old Saint Mary's Church is located at 123 East Thirteenth Street and is a "homemade" church and is the oldest standing house of worship in the city. In 1841 the German Catholics baked the bricks used in its construction in their own ovens and the 170' spire was built around a massive tree trunk taken from the nearby woods. It was constructed on land that had been the former estate of General Arthur St. Clair, who was the person who named Cincinnati while he was the first governor of the Northwest Territory. It was dedicated in 1842 and became the "Old" St. Mary's in 1904 when a new St. Mary's was constructed in Hyde Park. The tower clock is the oldest in the city and was the first product by the Verdin Co. The first bell was cast by Levi Coffin of Underground Railroad fame. The gigantic organ was installed in 1929 and contains 2,275 pipes, some of which came from Music Hall's original organ. A German/English/Latin mass is held every Sunday. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

St. Mary's Hyde Park 

                
       Old         St. Matthew's  Norwood       New                 4516 Floral Ave.              St. Matthews School    Immaculate Conception

   The middle postcard shows St. Matthews School (left), Church (right) and Rectory (rear). The 1st & 2nd postcards show the school and the last two non-postcards shows St. Matthews as it looks today. The church as you can see in the last image is now called Immaculate Conception Church.

                 
St. Michael's  Church      Church & Michael sts., Price Hill

   Built in 1847 the church is no longer used but, as can be seen in the present day photo, it still stands.

^{FOR  MORE  CHURCHES:}