St. Augustine's Catholic Church is a historic

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Located on the edge of the city's downtown, two blocks away from the Henry County Courthouse, the church is a prominent landmark in Napoleon.

History

St. Augustine Parish was founded at some point between 1856 and 1858; its first

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

was Michael Pietz. The parish was dedicated to St. Augustine in honor of Augustine Pilliod, who supervised the construction of its first building. This structure was replaced with the current church, which was built at a cost of $21,893. Although construction was largely completed in 1881, the

altars An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in Christian ...

were not installed until 1888.Ligibel, T
''Ohio Historic Inventory Nomination: St. Augustine's Catholic Church''
. Ohio Historical Society, 1977. Accessed 2010-02-27.

Architecture

St. Augustine's Church has been rated a fine example of

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

: both its exterior and its interior feature many examples of the style. A high ceiling, supported by many Gothic arches, rises above the sanctuary and its elaborate wooden altar and

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a synagogue, church, funeral home or sometimes a courtroom. Occasionally, they are also found in live performance venues (such as the Ryman ...

Stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows on the front, rear, and sides of the church provide light to the interior. The building's exterior, topped with a

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 relig ...

that rises above the ground, is built of brick

trimmed ''Trimmed'' is a 1922 American silent Western film directed by Harry A. Pollard and featuring Hoot Gibson. It is not known whether the film currently survives, and it may be a lost film. Plot Cast * Hoot Gibson as Dale Garland * Patsy Ru ...

with stone. The entire structure rests on a stone foundation; at the time of construction, small windows lit the basement, but these windows have since been closed with concrete blocks. Other small alterations have been made to the building over the years, including the replacement of the original front doors and wooden steps and the removal of crosses on the building's corners. Three buildings associated with the church are located nearby. A two-

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * 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 ** News story, an event or topic reported by a news orga ...

brick

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

, bought by the parish in 1925, sits behind the church, while a

Catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

lies next door. Across Clinton Street from the church is located a

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

of the Sisters of Notre Dame, a two-story

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

building constructed in 1862. The tall brick Gothic tower of St. Augustine's Church places its architecture in stark contrast to another historic church on the edge of downtown Napoleon. First Presbyterian Church, located on Washington Street four blocks southwest of St. Augustine's, features an

American Gothic ''American Gothic'' is a 1930 oil on beaverwood painting by the American Regionalist artist Grant Wood. Depicting a Midwestern farmer and his wife or daughter standing in front of their Carpenter Gothic style home, ''American Gothic'' is one ...

exterior built of multicolored

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

Recent history

In 1982, the church was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

for its architectural significance. It is one of four buildings in Henry County that are listed on the Register; the others are the county courthouse, the sheriff's house and jail, and First Presbyterian Church. It remains an active parish of the Diocese of Toledo and its Our Lady Queen of Peace Deanery.Our Lady Queen of Peace Deanery
Diocese of Toledo, 2010. Accessed 2010-02-27.

References

External links

Church websiteProfile
from the Diocese of Toledo {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Augustine's Catholic Church, Napoleon, Ohio Roman Catholic churches completed in 1881 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Gothic Revival church buildings in Ohio Buildings and structures in Henry County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Henry County, Ohio Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo 1856 establishments in Ohio Churches in Henry County, Ohio Napoleon, Ohio

History

Architecture

Recent history

References

Further reading

External links