{"nrhp_refnum":"79002820","name":"St. Joseph Catholic Church and Rectory","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Sawmill and St. Joe Rds.","address_restricted":false,"city":"St. Joe","county":"Mercer County","state":"OH","lat":40.42815643500006,"lon":-84.73849810099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-07-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Catholic church and its rectory at the southeast corner of Sawmill and St. Joe Roads in St. Joe (Victoria area), Mercer County, Ohio. The brick church dates to 1866, with a tower added in 1903, and the rectory was built in 1906.","why_significant":"The parish is described as one of the oldest Catholic parishes in Mercer County, beginning about 1830. The brick church has been altered only by the addition of a tower, and the parish was allowed to keep its second-generation church despite setbacks in growth. The rectory records the 1905 order that every parish have a resident pastor.","narrative":"St. Joseph Catholic Church and its rectory sit at the corner of Sawmill and St. Joe Roads in Mercer County, Ohio. The parish began about 1830 and is among the oldest Catholic parishes in the county. A French priest, Father Navarron, dedicated the first log church in 1845. The present one-story brick church, built in 1866 with a gable slate roof and stone foundation, gained a slate-covered spire tower in 1903. Parish growth was hampered by cholera in 1849, a pastor's departure to Minnesota with most of the congregation, and the creation of a mission at Fort Recovery, so the parish kept its second-generation church. The two-story brick rectory followed in 1906, after the archbishop ordered that every parish have a resident pastor. Losenkamp of St. Henry built it for $2,995. It has a slate hip roof and a wraparound veranda with Doric columns. A parish hall and a stone crucifixion group in the cemetery are also part of the grounds.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Rectory: Losenkamp from St. Henry (architect and builder); church architect not stated","architectural_style":"Rectory: Vernacular; church style not stated","criteria":[],"status_note":"Church in use as a church, in good condition inside and outside; rectory in use as a priest house, exterior in good condition. A garage was added to the rectory.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.828694-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/79002820.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002820/813ffb9d66-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002820/813ffb9d66-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Joseph%27s_Church_at_St._Joe,_eastern_side.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Joseph%27s_Church_at_St._Joe,_eastern_side.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71985883","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138588683"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/mercer-county/st-joseph-catholic-church-and-rectory-79002820/"}