St. Michael's Catholic Church (Mechanicsburg, Ohio) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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St. Michael Catholic Church
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Front of the church
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 Location in Ohio
Location in the United States
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| Location | 40 Walnut St., Mechanicsburg, Ohio |
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| Area | Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1888 |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| MPS | Mechanicsburg MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 85001892 |
| Added to NRHP | August 29, 1985 |
St. Michael's Catholic Church is an old and important church building in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. This village is in Champaign County, in the United States. The church was finished in the 1880s. It was built for a group of Catholic people who had been meeting for about 30 years.
St. Michael's is one of several historic churches in Mechanicsburg. It is known as a historic site because its design from the 1800s is still in great shape.
Contents
How the Church Started
The first people settled in Goshen Township around 1805. The village of Mechanicsburg was officially planned in 1814. In the early days, there were not many organized churches. The first churches were started by traveling preachers. They formed small groups that met in settlers' log cabins.
Mechanicsburg's first church was a Methodist church, started in 1814. By the 1880s, the village had four Protestant churches. These included Baptist and Methodist churches.
Catholics in the Area
The first Catholic families in Champaign County were Irish immigrants. They came to Urbana in the 1840s and 1850s. Many worked building railroads. These families often felt out of place because of their background and religion.
They could only receive Catholic sacraments sometimes from traveling priests. This changed when St. Mary's Church was built in Urbana in 1853. Mechanicsburg's first Catholic families were also mostly Irish. They went to St. Mary's or to a nearby town called Rosedale.
Traveling priests sometimes held Masses in Mechanicsburg. In 1872, the Mechanicsburg Catholic group joined a parish in Marysville.
Building the Church
The first Mass in Mechanicsburg was held in 1859. The local Catholic group officially became a parish in 1865. It became more organized in 1880. By the end of the 1880s, the church building on Walnut Street was finished.
In its early years, many families from the countryside around Mechanicsburg were members. They were very dedicated to their church. The church got a rectory (a house for the priest) in October 1904. A woman who lived on Walnut Street left her house to the church in her will.
By 1917, the church had 38 families, with 135 people. The parish had a Sunday school and other small groups.
Church Design and Look
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Building St. Michael's Church started in 1885. It cost about $5,000 to build. The church was officially opened on Thanksgiving Day in 1886. This ceremony was led by William Henry Elder, who was the Archbishop of Cincinnati.
The church is made of brick and has a brick foundation. It also has stone parts. It is a three-story building with a pointed roof. Many details give it a special Gothic Revival look. This style was popular in the late 1800s.
Special Features
Some of these features include the pointed windows. These windows have stone frames above them. There is also an arched area around the main entrance. The church has a tall steeple and decorative supports under the roof edge.
All these parts together make the church stand out on a street mostly filled with houses. Its style is similar to other Gothic Revival churches built in Mechanicsburg around the same time. The church was updated in 1901, but it kept its original style.
Recent Times
St. Michael's Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. This list includes important historic buildings in the United States. The church was one of about twenty buildings in Mechanicsburg added to the list. These buildings were spread out, so they weren't part of one big historic area.
Many of the other buildings on the list were houses. But four were other historic churches in the village. These included the Baptist, Episcopal, and Methodist churches. St. Michael's Church was added to the list because of its important and well-preserved architecture.
Today, St. Michael's is still an active church. It is part of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. It works with other Catholic churches in Champaign County. These include churches in Urbana, St. Paris, and North Lewisburg.
Images for kids
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St. Michael's rectory, located next door to the south
