{"nrhp_refnum":"86002267","name":"Saint Joseph's Catholic Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5757 OH 383","address_restricted":false,"city":"Somerset","county":"Perry County","state":"OH","lat":39.77718231400007,"lon":-82.27707652399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-08-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Saint Joseph's Catholic Church is a Gothic Revival brick church on a hilltop above State Route 383, about three miles southwest of Somerset, Perry County, Ohio. Its cornerstone was laid in 1839 and it opened in 1843 to a plan by local architect Thomas Spare.","why_significant":"The nomination argues significance under Criterion C as a representative example of American Gothic Revival religious architecture of the mid-19th century. Its rib-vaulted interior is an early Ohio example of a ceiling treatment that became common in the state's Catholic churches only after 1880. Later alterations from the 1880s to the 1950s are described as sympathetic and as not harming its integrity. The site also marks the first Catholic church and rectory in Ohio.","narrative":"Saint Joseph's Catholic Church sits on a wooded rise above State Route 383, southwest of Somerset in Perry County, Ohio, with a cemetery holding early parishioners' graves. Built of dark red brick in a restrained Gothic Revival style, it opened in 1843 to designs by local architect Thomas Spare, at the wish of pastor Father Montgomery. A fire in 1864 destroyed the steeple, which was never replaced, and the interior was rebuilt and rededicated in 1866 with slender rib vaulting. A choir was added in 1886, stained glass came from New York in 1918, and the chancel was redesigned in the early 1950s. The parish traces to the 1810s, when Dominican Father Edward Fenwick built the first Catholic church and rectory in Ohio on this land, and later missions spread from here. The church was listed for its architecture, especially its early use of Gothic rib vaulting in an Ohio Catholic church.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Thomas Spare","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in excellent condition, with the original site and some alterations noted; the priory and Old Convent were demolished in 1975.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.884626-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/86002267.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002267/fd64b5670f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002267/fd64b5670f-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Joseph%27s_Catholic_Church_near_Somerset.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Joseph%27s_Catholic_Church_near_Somerset.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990866","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph%27s_Catholic_Church_(Somerset,_Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7401507"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/perry-county/saint-josephs-catholic-church-86002267/"}