Sacred Heart Catholic Church is a historic

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church building in

downtown Dayton Downtown Dayton is the central business district of Dayton, Ohio. Major reinvestment in the downtown area began heavily in the mid-1990s, and continues today with $2 billion in residential, commercial, health, and transportation developments that ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

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. Constructed at the end of the nineteenth century for a new parish, it closed in 1996, but was reopened in 2001 when a Vietnamese Catholic group began to use the church. This

church building A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th thro ...

remains significant because of its grand architectural elements, which have led to its designation as 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 ...

Parish history

One of Dayton's oldest Catholic parishes, St. Joseph's Church was established in 1846. The lack of space in that church prompted some of the members to leave in July 1883 and establish Sacred Heart Church; under the leadership of St. Joseph's associate pastor Hugh McDevitt, the congregation rented a meeting hall while waiting for the construction of their building. Land for the present church was purchased for $19,000, and

William Henry Elder William Henry Elder (March 22, 1819 – October 31, 1904) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Natchez in Mississippi from 1857 to 1880 and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in Ohio b ...

laid the

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

in June 1888. Exterior work was completed in the following year, and by 1893 construction was close enough to completion that the congregation could begin worshipping in their building. The building was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different gro ...

by Bishop Maes of Covington in November 1895; construction had cost approximately $100,000 ($ in current dollar terms), but the parish was able to liquidate its debts by 1903. For many years, the parish flourished, reaching a membership of five hundred families by 1909,Drury, A.W.
History of the City of Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio
'. Vol. 1.

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and Dayton: Clarke, 1900. but its membership had subsided by 1996. Five years later, a Vietnamese-speaking Catholic parish began using the building.Dalton, Curt.
Dayton
'. Charleston: Arcadia, 2006, 52.

Architecture

Charles Insco Williams Charles Insco Williams (December 12, 1853 - February 13, 1923) was an artist and architect in Dayton, Ohio. Biography He was born on December 12, 1853, to Mary Forman and John Insco Williams. His father seems to have been an accomplished pai ...

, Sacred Heart is a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

building with a limestone foundation, an asphalt roof, and various elements of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

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 ...

, 2007. Accessed 2013-11-10. the limestone was quarried locally, while the sandstone was obtained from

Berea, Ohio Berea ( ) is a city in Cuyahoga County in the U.S. state of Ohio and is a western suburb of Cleveland. The population was 19,093 at the 2010 census. Berea is home to Baldwin Wallace University, as well as the training facility for the Cleveland ...

. Constructed in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style, but with a prominent octagonal Baroque

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

and glazed

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, f ...

, towers flank the main entrance, and there are

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' ...

s under the

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

s of the front and side. When constructed, the building featured a basement under the 75-foot ceiling, and its general plan was 115 by 92 feet, or 23, 35, and 28m respectively. Grand woodworking, artwork, and chandeliers once filled the interior, but most have been removed; some were destroyed by the raging waters of the Great Flood of 1913, while others were intentionally removed or painted over at later dates.

Preservation

In October 1987, Sacred Heart 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 ...

. Although as a religious property it would not normally be considered eligible for designation,National Register Criteria for Evaluation

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 properti ...

. Accessed 2013-11-10. it nevertheless qualified because of its distinctive historic architecture. The parish's related

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically o ...

was also included in the designation. It is one of five Dayton churches on the Register, along with St. Mary's, St. Adalbert's, and Holy Cross Catholic Churches and First Lutheran Church.

References

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places Roman Catholic churches completed in 1890 Roman Catholic churches in Dayton, Ohio Limestone churches in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Ohio Romanesque Revival church buildings in Ohio Stone churches in Ohio 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States

Parish history

Architecture

Preservation

See also

References

External links