St. Joseph Church, Egypt

Address: Minster-Egypt Rd. & OH 364, Egypt OH (Auglaize County)

Phone: 419-628-2614 Website

Mass Times: Sun. 08:45 Communion Service: Weds. 08:00

Parish Founded: 1852 Church Built: 1878

Architect: Anton Goehr Architectural Style: Late Gothic Revival

History:. After the Miami-Erie canal was opened there was a large influx of settlers coming up the canal from Cincinnati. Some of these settlers took up land west of Minster. One of the earliest, Herman Henry Kruse in 1835 while looking at his swamp land declared, "This place was formed by a dab of mud that fell from the wheelbarrow of God when he made the world. It should therefore, be called Egypt." His neighbors agreed and so it was.

The Catholic people of Egypt attended services at Minster, but they wanted their own place of worship due to the difficulties in traveling. Three men approached the Archbishop and on August 14, 1852, permission was granted for St. Joseph Parish, Egypt. A frame church was built east of the present cemetery. By 1877, it was obvious a larger church was needed. The brick church was to be built on the land donated by Johann Albert Osterloh. The church was dedicated on the last Sunday of December, 1878. A parish rectory was built directly north of the church in 1942.

By 1922 the church needed repairs. The complete remodeling was done in 1927. Stained glass windows were added in 1939. St. Joseph now shares a pastor with St. Augustine, Minster.