We recently wrote about the history of South Park United Methodist church at Brown and Stonemill, which opened in 1926.
An article in the Dayton Daily News on Feb. 3, 1924 mentioned this church alongside 8 others that would begin construction that same year. The 9 buildings totaled $2,272,000, making 1924 a major year for churches in Dayton.
Some viewed the impressive building plan as an “answer to fears that religion is declining.” The article explains that “those point to the reported excesses and ‘fast living’ of present times as a point of their argument.”
In addition to the South Park church (which was called Patterson Memorial when it was built), the 8 other buildings were located all around the city of Dayton.
The most extravagant was Westminster Presbyterian which was erected on the site of the old Cooper Seminary. This church cost $615,000, “the largest sum ever spent on a Dayton church edifice.”
The other churches included Temple Israel at Salem and Emerson which was estimated to cost $300,00; three Catholic churches (Holy Family at Fifth and Findlay, Holy Angels at Brown and K, and Holy Anthony at Creighton and St. Charles).
Rounding out the list were West Side church of Christ (Broadway and Edgewood), First Church of Christ Scientist (Stonemill and Rubicon) and the North Riverdale Christian church (Main St and Laura Ave).
Sources
“$2,272,000 to be spent here for churches” Dayton Daily News, Aug 7, 2020
Historic image courtesy of Dayton Metro Library
I believe Holy Family was constructed in 1905; it was surely completed well before 1924.
From Holy Family website…
“Founded on July 1, 1905”
Hello, you are correct that the parish was founded in 1905. The present building, however, was indeed built starting in 1924 and was dedicated in 1926.
I just looked through some sources to verify this for sure, and found a Dayton Daily News article that talked about the dedication which occurred in January 1926 (“Dedication of Holy Family Church held,” DDN, 1/11/26). The article said the new church cost approximately $250,000 and had been under construction for over two years. But that said, I have not looked into what the previous church may have looked like during the years of 1905 to 1924.
And the article was definitely not clear that this one was a rebuild and not the first iteration of the church, so I can certainly see why you brought it up!