St. Joseph's Catholic Church (Springfield, Ohio)

	St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Eastern side of the church
Location	802 Kenton St., Springfield, Ohio
Coordinates	39°54′57″N 83°47′52″W / 39.91583°N 83.79778°W
Area	Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1892
Architect	Charles A. Cregar
Architectural style	Early Romanesque Revival
NRHP reference No.	82003552
Added to NRHP	March 15, 1982

St. Joseph's Church is a historic Catholic church in the city of Springfield, Ohio, United States. Established in the 1880s to serve southeastern Springfield's growing Catholic population, it uses a tall Romanesque Revival church building, which was designed by a leading city architect; the building has been named a historic site.

Early years

As late as 1830, not a single Catholic was resident in Clark County, but twenty Catholic families moved to Springfield between 1835 and 1845, and by 1850 there were approximately seventy Catholic families in the city.^[2]^: 503 In 1849, the Bishop of Cincinnati created Springfield's first parish, Saint Raphael.^[3]^: 400 By the 1880s, large numbers of Catholics were living on Springfield's southeastern side, and preparations for a separate parish began with the purchase of three lots of land in 1881. A parish school building was begun in 1882,^[2]^: 505 and the new Church of St. Joseph was created a separate parish in the same year.^[3]^: 401 By late 1883, the school was open, and C.M. Berding was appointed the first parish priest on New Year's Day 1884. During his ministry, construction began on the present building in 1892; extensive debt was taken on, but the work of Berding and his two successors saw the building raised to architectural grandeur and the debt reduced to nearly nothing. By 1908, the parish comprised four hundred member families, and the school enrolled approximately four hundred and fifty children.^[2]^: 506

Architecture

St. Joseph's is a tall Gothic Revival structure crowned by a prominent spire atop its bell tower.^[4] Built of brick on an uncollected foundation, the building is decorated with elements of brick and stone. The facade is divided into three bays, with the middle protruding slightly from the side bays. Entrances are placed in each bay, with a large pointed-arch window above the central entrance and three smaller such windows above the side. Polygonal engaged columns are placed on the corners, rising to small pointed towers above the edge of the steep roof.^[5] Many of the building's windows are filled with stained glass. Construction was financed by loans; between the borrowed money and interest on the loans, the parish spent $76,000 to build their church and school.^[2]^: 506 The architect was Charles A. Cregar,^[1] one of the most prominent architects in Springfield's history.^[6] By the time he was chosen for St. Joseph's Church, Cregar had established himself as a Romanesque Revival architect, due to his designs for buildings such as the city hall; while St. Joseph's Church is generally a Romanesque Revival structure, due to elements such as apparent machicolations, the windows and the high steeple demonstrate Gothic Revival influences.^[4]

Recent history

St. Joseph's remains an active part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati, but no longer as a separate parish: St. Raphael's and St. Joseph's have been combined into a single parish.^[7] The church building itself has received wide recognition: it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in early 1982, due to its historically significant architecture. It is one of six Cregar-designed buildings listed on the Register, along with the former city hall, St. John's Evangelical Church, the former Arcade Hotel, St. Raphael's Church, and the former Third Presbyterian Church.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Rockel, William M., ed. 20th Century History of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio and Representative Citizens. Chicago: Biographical, 1908.
^ ^a ^b Fortin, Roger. Faith and Action: A History of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati 1821-1996 Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 2002.
^ ^a ^b Owen, Lorrie K., ed. Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 135-136.
^ St Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2014-02-24.
^ Dabe, Melissa. "Explore Designs by Springfield's Finest Victorian Architect", Springfield News-Sun, 2012-08-23. Accessed 2014-02-24.
^ Our Parish Community, St. Joseph/St. Raphael Parish, n.d. Accessed 2014-02-24.

External links

Parish website
Parish profile from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[history-2] Rockel, William M., ed. 20th Century History of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio and Representative Citizens. Chicago: Biographical, 1908.

[fortin-3] Fortin, Roger. Faith and Action: A History of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati 1821-1996 Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 2002.

[dohp-4] Owen, Lorrie K., ed. Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 135-136.

[5] St Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2014-02-24.

[6] Dabe, Melissa. "Explore Designs by Springfield's Finest Victorian Architect", Springfield News-Sun, 2012-08-23. Accessed 2014-02-24.

[7] Our Parish Community, St. Joseph/St. Raphael Parish, n.d. Accessed 2014-02-24.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

v t e Churches in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Cathedral	Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains
Parishes	Cincinnati Church of the Annunciation Immaculata Church Old St. Mary's Church St. Aloysius on the Ohio St. Francis De Sales Church Saint Francis Seraph Church St. Francis Xavier Church St. Lawrence Church St. Pius X Church St. Rose Church Dayton Holy Cross Church Sacred Heart Church St. Adalbert Church St. Mary's Church Springfield St. Joseph's Church St. Raphael's Church Other Immaculate Conception Church, Botkins St. Aloysius Church, Carthagena Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Cassella Immaculate Conception Church, Celina Precious Blood Church, Chickasaw Our Lady of Victory Church, Delhi Township St. Joseph's Church, Egypt Holy Family Church, Frenchtown St. John's Church, Fryburg St. Patrick's Church, Glynwood St. John the Baptist Church, Maria Stein Sacred Heart Church, McCartyville St. Michael's Church, Mechanicsburg St. Augustine's Church, Minster St. Louis Church, North Star St. Nicholas Church, Osgood St. Anthony's Church, Padua St. Remy's Church, Russia St. Henry's Church, St. Henry Holy Rosary Church, St. Marys St. Rose's Church, St. Rose St. Sebastian's Church, Sebastian St. Joseph's Church, Wapakoneta
Former parishes	All Saints Church, Cincinnati Holy Trinity Church, Cincinnati St. Augustine Church, Cincinnati St. George's Church, Cincinnati St. Michael the Archangel Church, Cincinnati St. Paul Church, Cincinnati St. Philomena's Church, Cincinnati St. Patrick's Church, St. Patrick
Shrine	Shrine of the Holy Relics

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Clark County, Ohio
Historic districts	East High Street District South Charleston Historic District South Fountain Avenue Historic District
Other properties	Arcade Hotel Francis Bookwalter House Brewer Log House David Crabill House Enon Mound Green Plain Monthly Meetinghouse Daniel Hertzler House Kenton-Hunt Farm Lagonda Club Building Main Street Buildings Marquart-Mercer Farm Masonic Temple Municipal Building Myers Hall Newlove Works Odd Fellows' Home for Orphans, Indigent and Aged Old Enon Road Stone Arch Culvert Olive Branch High School Ollie's Tavern Pennsylvania House Pickaway Settlements Battlesite Pringle-Patric House C.A. Reeser House St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church St. Raphael Church Shawnee Hotel Tecumseh Building Third Presbyterian Church Thomas Manufacturing Company Warehouse Warder Public Library Westcott House
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Clark County, Ohio and List of National Historic Landmarks in Ohio

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Topics	Architectural style categories Contributing property Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places Keeper of the Register National Park Service Property types
Lists by state	List of U.S. National Historic Landmarks by state: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Lists by insular areas	American Samoa Guam Minor Outlying Islands Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico Virgin Islands
Lists by associated state	Federated States of Micronesia Marshall Islands Palau
Other areas	District of Columbia American Legation, Morocco
Related	National Historic Preservation Act Historic Preservation Fund List of jails and prisons on the National Register of Historic Places University and college buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places portal Category