St. Sebastian's Catholic Church is a historic

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

in Marion Township, Mercer County,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

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. Located in the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

of Sebastian, it is the home of an active congregation and has been declared a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

because of its well-preserved early twentieth-century

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

Parish history

Dedicated to third-century martyr

Saint Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Dioclet ...

, the parish was established in 1852 from territory that had been part of St. Rose and St. John the Baptist parishes. By the end of the following year, its members constructed a church building that would serve the parish for twenty-five years;Scranton, S.S. ''History of Mercer County, Ohio and Representative Citizens''.

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

: Biographical, 1907, 230. a

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

structure, it was built under the direction of an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

man named Coratus.Brown, Mary Ann. ''Ohio Historic Inventory Nomination: St. Sebastian Catholic Church''.

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

, February 1977. This structure served the parish until a replacement brick church was completed in October 1879; a rectangle measuring by , it cost $4,000 to build and was considered by some to be the finest church in Mercer County. Anton DeCurtins was instrumental in this building's history: he designed it, added its

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

, and expanded it in 1894. Some of the parish's members lived in the village of

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as ...

, nearly to the southeast. During the 1890s, movements grew among the Chickasaw members for the creation of a separate parish; they built a

parish hall A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church, generally for community and charitable use.

in 1894 and succeeded in having it declared a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

in the following year.Precious Blood Church History
, Marion Catholic Community, 2009. Accessed 2010-05-29. Unrest between the Catholics of Chickasaw and the parish's other members culminated with the destruction of the church: on January 12, 1903, soon after many of the Chickasaw parishioners separated from St. Sebastian's, the church and its contents were burned to the ground. In the aftermath of the fire, an investigation was conducted under the supervision of Archbishop Elder. Although the fire was deemed suspicious, a separate parish was created in Chickasaw as a result of the fire, while St. Sebastian parish began the construction of a new church in 1904; it remains standing today. Since its creation, St. Sebastian's has been ministered to by priests of the

Society of the Precious Blood The Society of the Precious Blood is an Anglican religious order of contemplative sisters with convents in England, Lesotho and South Africa. The sisters follow the Rule of St Augustine. History The Order dates its history from 1905 when Mother ...

.Brown, Mary Ann and Mary Niekamp. '.

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

, July 1978. Accessed 2010-05-30. Today, St. Sebastian's remains an active parish of the

Archdiocese of Cincinnati The Archdiocese of Cincinnati ( la, Archidiœcesis Cincinnatensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese that covers the southwest region of the U.S. state of Ohio, including the greater Cincinnati and Dayton metropolitan ...

. It is part of the Marion Catholic Community cluster, along with

Precious Blood Blood of Christ, also known as the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in Christian theology refers to (a) the physical blood actually shed by Jesus Christ primarily on the Cross, and the salvation which Christianity teaches was accomp ...

parish in

, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin parish in

Cassella Cassella AG, formerly Leopold Cassella & Co. and Cassella Farbwerke Mainkur AG, commonly known as Cassella, was a German chemical and pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. Founded in 1798 in the Frankfurt Jewish Alley by ...

, St. Rose parish in St. Rose, and

St. John the Baptist parish St. John the Baptist Parish (SJBP, french: Paroisse de Saint-Jean-Baptiste) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, the population was 42,477. The parish seat is Edgard, an unincorporated area, and the largest c ...

Maria Stein Maria Stein (German language, German, literally Mary's stone or "Mary of the Rock") is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in central Marion Township, Mercer County, Ohio, Marion Township, Mercer County, Ohio, Mercer County, Ohio ...

. The entire cluster is a part of the St. Marys

Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

Architecture

Andrew DeCurtins, Anton's son, was chosen as the architect for the new structure; he employed stone for the

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

, pressed brick (laid in a

stretcher bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by si ...

) for the walls, and

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

s for the roof. The entire building is a very tall structure; its vertical features are highlighted by elements such as the sandstone

trim Trim or TRIM may refer to: Cutting * Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them ** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process ** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees Decoration * Trim (sewing), or ...

on the

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es. Although the building is only one

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

high, it includes a tall

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religi ...

with a belfry and topped with a four-sided

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

. Worshippers enter the building through a doorway in the tower's base; the

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

features

tracery Tracery is an architecture, architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of Molding (decorative), moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the s ...

crowned with sandstone. Inside, the church is equipped with a basement, while its most impressive feature is a

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

ceiling decorated with multiple High Gothic Revival

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

. A rectangle long and wide, the church was built on the site of the previous structure. Architectural historians have divided the Precious Blood-related churches of western Ohio into four generations. St. Sebastian's is typical of the churches of the third generation, which are generally

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

structures with a single central tower. It is one of six extant churches from this period that were designed by the DeCurtins family.

Surrounding areas

During the early years of the twentieth century, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati required each parish to construct a rectory for its parish priest. St. Sebastian's Church arranged for the building of a rectory in 1905; it cost approximately $4,000. Like the church, this rectory was designed by the DeCurtins family. A two-story brick house, it is typical of period rectories in its region; like St. Sebastian's, these structures are typically rectangles with

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

s and equipped with verandas. Two of its most elaborate features are a heavily ornamented entrance, decorated with

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

and multiple transoms, and a central

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

that illuminates the second floor. Its foundation is built of

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

, and its walls are laid in a stretcher bond, like those of the church. Although the rectory remains in a condition similar to the time of its construction, it has been expanded; a single room and a garage have been attached to its southern end, between the old part of the house and the rear of the church.Brown, Mary Ann. ''Ohio Historic Inventory Nomination: Saint Sebastian Rectory''.

, August 1977. Some areas of lesser-used land border the church. A parish

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

is located nearby, while the distance between the front door and Sebastian Road is lined with small trees. The community of Sebastian is very small, causing the church to appear almost as if it were alone in the countryside. Among the few nearby buildings is an old house located adjacent to the church property's eastern boundary; it is believed to have been built during the 1850s as a general store.

Recognition

St. Sebastian's Church was recorded by a

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

program, the Ohio Historic Inventory, in 1977. This architectural survey ranked both the church and the rectory in good condition without any significant threats to their historic integrity, and the church was deemed eligible for addition to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. Both buildings were listed together on the Register in 1979, along with over thirty other properties in far western Ohio related to the Society of the Precious Blood. Many of these buildings were churches or rectories, including at least one building owned by each of the six parishes in the Marion Catholic Community. The tall Gothic Revival architecture of many churches in this part of far western Ohio has become the namesake of this region, which is nicknamed the "

Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches The Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches is a rural region in the western part of the U.S. state of Ohio, centered near Maria Stein, Ohio, Maria Stein in Mercer County, Ohio, Mercer County. Its name is derived from the dense concentration of large Cath ...

References

External links

Marion Catholic Community
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Sebastians Catholic Church, Sebastian, Ohio Roman Catholic churches completed in 1904 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1905 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Churches in the Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches Gothic Revival church buildings in Ohio Churches in Mercer County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Mercer County, Ohio Religious organizations established in 1853 Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati 1853 establishments in Ohio Saint Sebastian