The Church of St. Patrick is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of the

Roman 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

at 130 Avondale Avenue in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, in the Diocese of Toledo. It is noted for its historic parish church, which was listed on 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 ...

in 1972.

History

The current structure is the second to bear this name. Construction of the first church began in 1862 at the corner of Lafayette and 13th Streets. It was dedicated May 17, 1863 with construction costs totaling $27,000. However, by 1891, the building was deemed unsafe and demolished. Pews and other interior furnishings removed for use in a new building.

Construction

Fr. Edward Hannin, pastor of St. Patrick's, set out to create "the finest church in this part of the land," for his congregation and began to raise money for construction. When it was completed, St. Patrick's was considered one of the finest examples 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 ...

in the United States. The exterior is constructed of Amherst blue sandstone and the interior contains ten red granite columns. The church was dedicated on April 13, 1901.

Alterations

The church underwent extensive renovations in the 1920s under the guidance of pastor Fr. Francis Keyes. Changes included new chandeliers, flooring and art work. In 1937, a new cross was added to the steeple. On September 9, 1980, the steeple was destroyed by fire caused by a lightning strike. Falling debris damaged the roof and other portions of the structure. After her death February 25, 2006, Parishioner Margaret Tank bequeathed funds for the steeple's reconstruction and other upgrades in the church. The gift also allowed for repairs to the sanctuary's organ which was also damaged in the 1980 fire. The two-manual Rodgers electronic organ that incorporated 17 ranks of pipes from an earlier

Kilgen Kilgen was a prominent American builder of organs which was in business from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. History The Kilgen family The Kilgen family's history of organ making supposedly dates to the 17th century, when Sebastian Kilgen ...

organ was upgraded to a four-manual instrument. The steeple and other projects were completed August 28, 2007.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Lucas County, Ohio Roman Catholic churches in Toledo, Ohio Roman Catholic churches completed in 1863 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1901 1862 establishments in Ohio 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States {{Ohio-RC-church-stub