{"nrhp_refnum":"76001439","name":"Old St. Mary's Church, School and Rectory","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"123 E. 13th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cincinnati","county":"Hamilton County","state":"OH","lat":39.10967646600005,"lon":-84.51202323599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-03-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of three brick buildings in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine area at 123 East 13th Street: a church (1841), a school (1844) and a parish house or rectory (1864), built for a German Catholic parish.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that it is the oldest church still standing in Cincinnati and is important to the city's German immigrant community. The parish provided religious services, education and help to newcomers, and continues to assist later immigrants. The church's exceptional architecture and elaborate interior are also cited.","narrative":"Old St. Mary's is a Catholic church complex at 123 East 13th Street in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, made up of a church begun in 1841, a school opened in 1844 and a parish house built in 1864. Its brick exterior is simple, combining Greek Revival and simplified German Baroque elements, with Doric pilasters and a square clock tower topped by an octagonal stage, spire and cross. The interior is far more elaborate, with floral decoration, paintings, carved altars and an 1846 organ still in use. German immigrant Franz Ignatz Erd designed the church, and parishioners did much of the work themselves. It is described as the oldest church still standing in Cincinnati and was the largest church built on the western frontier up to that time. The parish served the German community by providing worship, schooling and orientation to American life, and it later assisted newcomers from Appalachia and the southern states.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Franz Ignatz Erd","architectural_style":"Greek Revival and simplified German Baroque elements in brick","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in excellent condition, in religious use and privately owned by the archdiocese; a frame structure beside the parish house was slated for removal for a church office building.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.130173-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/76001439.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001439/2529c8c16b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001439/2529c8c16b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Adam Sonnett","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Saint_Mary%27s_Church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Adam Sonnett</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Saint_Mary%27s_Church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989167","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_St._Mary%27s_Church_(Cincinnati,_Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7085044"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/hamilton-county/old-st-marys-church-school-and-rectory-76001439/"}