St. Sebastian's Catholic Church (Sebastian, Ohio) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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St. Sebastian Catholic Church and Rectory
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Front and eastern side of the church
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 Location in Ohio
Location in the United States
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| Location | Sebastian Rd. and County Road 716-A, Sebastian, Ohio |
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| Area | 0 acres (0 ha) |
| Built | 1904 |
| Architect | Andrew De Curtins |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| MPS | Cross-Tipped Churches of Ohio TR |
| NRHP reference No. | 79002830 |
| Added to NRHP | July 26, 1979 |
St. Sebastian's Catholic Church is an old and important church in Sebastian, Ohio. It's a Roman Catholic church known for its beautiful Gothic Revival style from the early 1900s. People still use it today, and it's recognized as a historic site.
Contents
The Story of St. Sebastian's Church
This church is named after Saint Sebastian, a very old saint. The church community, called a parish, started in 1852. It was formed from parts of other nearby church areas.
The first church building was finished in 1853. It was a wooden building and served the community for 25 years. An African American man named Coratus helped build it.
In 1879, a new brick church was built. It cost $4,000, which was a lot of money back then! Many people thought it was the best church in Mercer County. A person named Anton DeCurtins designed this church. He also added a pipe organ and made the church bigger in 1894.
A New Church After a Fire
Some church members lived in a village called Chickasaw, about two miles away. In the 1890s, these members wanted their own church. They built a hall in 1894, which became a small chapel.
On January 12, 1903, the brick church burned down. This happened soon after many Chickasaw members started their own separate church. An investigation was done, and the fire seemed suspicious. Because of the fire, a new church was built in Chickasaw. St. Sebastian's parish also started building a new church in 1904, which is the one you see today.
Who Leads the Church?
Since it began, priests from the Missionaries of the Precious Blood have led St. Sebastian's Church. Today, it's still an active church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati. It's part of a group of churches called the Marion Catholic Community. This group includes churches in Chickasaw, Cassella, St. Rose, and Maria Stein.
Church Design and Style
Andrew DeCurtins, Anton's son, designed the current church. He used stone for the bottom part and special bricks for the walls. The roof is made of slate.
The church is very tall. Its height is emphasized by features like sandstone decorations on the buttresses (supports on the outside walls). Even though it's one story inside, it has a tall steeple with a belfry (where bells are kept) and a pointed top.
You enter the church through a doorway at the bottom of the tower. Above the door, there's a decorated window with sandstone details. Inside, the church has a basement. The most impressive part is the high, arched ceiling, which is decorated in a fancy Gothic Revival style. The church is 113 feet long and 52 feet wide. It was built right where the old church used to be.
Historians group the churches in western Ohio designed by the Precious Blood priests into different types. St. Sebastian's is a good example of the third type. These churches usually have a Gothic Revival style with one tall tower in the middle. The DeCurtins family designed six of these churches that are still standing today.
The Rectory and Surroundings
In the early 1900s, church rules said that every parish needed a rectory, which is a house for the priest. St. Sebastian's Church built its rectory in 1905. It cost about $4,000. Like the church, the DeCurtins family designed this rectory.
It's a two-story brick house, typical for rectories in this area. It has a sloped roof and a porch. Two special features are its fancy entrance with stained glass and a round window that lets light into the second floor. The rectory's foundation is made of cut stone, and its walls are built with the same type of brick pattern as the church.
The rectory still looks much like it did when it was built. However, a room and a garage were added to its back.
What's Around the Church?
There's a church cemetery nearby. Small trees line the path from the front door to Sebastian Road. The community of Sebastian is very small. This makes the church look almost like it's out in the countryside by itself. One of the few other buildings nearby is an old house. It's next to the church property and is thought to have been built in the 1850s as a general store.
Why St. Sebastian's is Important
St. Sebastian's Church was studied in 1977 by a program called the Ohio Historic Inventory. This study found that both the church and the rectory were in good condition. They were also considered important enough to be added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Both buildings were officially listed on the Register in 1979. More than thirty other properties in western Ohio connected to the Society of the Precious Blood were also listed at that time. Many of these were churches or rectories, including buildings from all six parishes in the Marion Catholic Community.
The tall Gothic Revival churches in this part of western Ohio are so famous that the area is nicknamed the "Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches."
