The Welsh Congregational Church was a historic

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 * Chris ...

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...

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 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Formed by some of Youngstown's large

Welsh American Welsh Americans ( cy, Americanwyr Cymreig) are an American ethnic group whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Wales. In the 2008 U.S. Census community survey, an estimated 1.98 million Americans had Welsh ancestry, 0.6% of the total U.S ...

community, it was once the center of Welsh life in Youngstown, and it has been designated a historic site. Despite efforts to preserve the church, the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown demolished it on April 28, 2022 after decades of abandonment. During the middle and late nineteenth century, Youngstown began to develop as an industrial powerhouse,Williams, Judy. '.

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 ...

, 1985-11-18. and its population expanded with the arrival of thousands of western European immigrants. The largest ethnic group was Welsh, many of whom came to work in coal mines at Brier Hill, west of the city. Some of the Welshmen founded a

Congregational church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

at Brier Hill in 1845, but significant growth prompted the members to construct a new building in Youngstown itself, near downtown, in 1861. This building, the present structure, soon became an ethnic

community center Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

as well as a house of worship.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 967. Major reconstruction was performed on the building in 1887, completely changing its

architectural style An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...

. Few other alterations were made over the next century, and by the 1980s, it was Youngstown's oldest church and the only

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 ...

house of worship without recent modifications. One and a half

stories 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 ...

tall, the church is composed of

weatherboarded Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern America ...

and shingled walls and an

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

roof, set upon a stone foundation. It was originally a

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

structure, although the Queen Anne style has dominated since 1887. The floor plan is vaguely

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

, with the arms placed so near the street that they appear to form the facade, and the top of the cross protrudes only a slight distance from the arms. All sections are

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

-roofed. Small dormer windows are placed in the arm roofs, and a polygonal tower with a steep roof sits atop the facade., Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2010-02-13. In 1986, the Welsh Congregational Church was listed on 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 ...

, qualifying both because of its historically significant architecture and because of its place in community history. It was part of a

multiple property submission The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of Historic districts in the United States, districts, sites, buildings, struc ...

of downtown-area buildings, along with numerous commercial buildings, the

Masonic Temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history In ...

, and First Presbyterian Church. By this time, it was no longer occupied by its original owners, having become home instead to the Messiah Holiness Church. By the late 2010s, the church had been left in a state of disrepair. Many efforts were made by locals to relocate the church to nearby sites such as

Wick Park Wick Park Historic District is a historic neighborhood on the north side of Youngstown, Ohio, with Wick Park as its centerpiece. During the first half of the 20th century, the residential district surrounding Wick Park included some of the city' ...

and "The Wedge" in Downtown, however these efforts ultimately failed. Discouraged by the lengthy timeline of relocation and renovation plans, the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown decided to have the building demolished in order to make way for a new green space where the church once stood. On April 28, 2022, the church was demolished after standing for 161 years.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places 1845 establishments in Ohio Religious organizations established in 1845 Churches completed in 1861 Congregational organizations established in the 19th century Churches in Mahoning County, Ohio Congregational churches in Ohio Greek Revival church buildings in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Mahoning County, Ohio Queen Anne architecture in Ohio Welsh-American culture in Ohio Wooden churches in the United States Churches in Youngstown, Ohio