St. Louis Catholic Church (North Star, Ohio) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
St. Louis Catholic Church and Rectory
|
|
Front and eastern side of the church
|
|
 Location in Ohio
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | East of the intersection of North Star Road and U.S. Route 127 |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | North Star, Ohio |
| Area | Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1914 |
| MPS | Cross-Tipped Churches of Ohio TR |
| NRHP reference No. | 79002835 |
| Added to NRHP | July 26, 1979 |
St. Louis Catholic Church is a very old and special church located in North Star, Ohio, in the United States. Even though it was built in the early 1900s, making it one of the newer churches in this area of Ohio, it's famous for its unique design. People recognize it as an important historic site because its architecture is different from other churches nearby.
Church History
The community that formed St. Louis Church started in 1892 near North Star. Back then, it was called St. John's, and its first church building was about 2 miles east of North Star. This first church was finished in 1893.
For a while, this church was connected to St. Denis parish in Versailles, which was about 7 miles away. Later, in 1906, it became connected to St. Nicholas parish in Osgood, which was only 3 miles away.
By the early 1910s, the church community decided to move into North Star village. Their new church building, the one you see today, was finished in 1914. The original church's cemetery is still at the old site, at the corner of Mangen and North Star-Fort Loramie Roads.
Church Design
_-_chancel.jpg)
The church building is a rectangular shape with one main floor. It has several pointed roofs called gables and a tall, square bell tower that isn't exactly in the middle. The outside walls are covered in white stucco, which is a type of plaster, and they sit on a strong concrete base. The roof is made of asphalt.
Inside, the church gets light from many different kinds of windows. Above the main entrance, there's a round window called a rose window. Along the walls, there are wide stained glass windows with rounded tops. The bell tower also has narrow, rectangular windows.
The church's design mixes different styles, but many parts, like the decorative edges on the bell tower, show influences from the French Renaissance style. St. Louis Church looks very different from other Catholic churches in this area. Most churches nearby are built in the Gothic Revival style, which has a different look.
The Rectory Building
Next to the church, on its west side, is a brick building called the rectory. This is where the priest lives. It was also built in 1914 and replaced an older, smaller wooden rectory that was moved to another part of the village.
The rectory is a square, two-story building with a stone base. It has a front porch that is enclosed. The roof is a hip roof, which slopes down on all sides, and it's covered with asbestos shingles. It also has several dormers, which are windows that stick out from the roof. One special feature of the rectory is a stone cross located between the second-story windows on the front of the house.
A Historic Landmark
In 1977, experts looked at the church and rectory as part of an architectural survey called the Ohio Historic Inventory. They found both buildings were in good shape and well-preserved.
Two years later, in 1979, both the church and the rectory were added to the National Register of Historic Places. This is a list of places in the United States that are important for their history or architecture. They were recognized for their unique design.
St. Louis Church was listed along with 25 other churches in western Ohio. These churches are known as the "Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches" because many of them have very tall Gothic Revival towers that can be seen from far away. St. Louis Church's French-inspired design makes it stand out from these other churches, which mostly have the tall Gothic Revival towers.
Today, St. Louis Church is still an active church in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. It is part of a group of parishes that includes St. Remy's in Russia, St. Denis in Versailles, Holy Family in Frenchtown, St. Mary's in Greenville, and St. Nicholas in Osgood.
