St. Joseph Church, "Cradle of the Faith in Ohio." was the first
Catholic church in the state. Dominican Father Edward Fenwick, later the
first bishop of Cincinnati, came from Kentucky to
visit local Catholics for the first time in 1808. Led by Jacob
Dittoe, six Catholic families bought this half section of land
and built an 18 by 22-foot log church. Dittoe deeded the 320
acres to Fenwick, who blessed the church on December 6, 1818.
Located near Zane's Trace, the church attracted German, Irish
and Alsatia Catholic settlers and became the mission center for
southern and eastern Ohio. The present structure, the third on
the site, was dedicated in 1843 and rebuilt in 1866 after an
1864 fire.
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