St. Henry Church

History: When the village of St. Henry was founded in 1837 a lot was set aside for a church, but it was not until 1839 that the bishop of Cincinnati gave permission to form a parish. Before this time the few families in this area walked to Minster for Church services. The new parish quickly built a log church covered with handhewn weather boards. This church was dedicated in 1842. The parish then numbered 19 families. Once the church was established many immigrants came into the area.

In 1845, weekly masses were started by the priest of the Precious Blood who had settled in Maria Stein. Only 12 years after the log church was built, a new brick church was built for the 41 families in the parish. Its dimensions of 100 feet by 48 feet were twice the size of the log church. The parish continued to grow and by 1894 the 144 families started to make plans to build a new larger church. Construction began on the new structure in 1895, while much of the construction work was performed by parishioners, the design was the responsibility of architect J. Anton Decurtins. This building, the present church, was dedicated on July 15, 1897. It seats approximately 800 people. At a cost of approximately $100,000, an estimate in the early twentieth century pronounced the church the most costly in northwestern Ohio.

When finished in 1897 the only lights were candles. Acetylene lights replaced candles in 1902. Electric lights were installed in 1917, and new fixtures in 1962. The entire interior of the church was renovated in the 1970's in response to the liturgical reforms of Vatican II.