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In
1807, (after the founding of
Canton), John Shorb and his family settled in
Canton
and were the first representatives of the Catholic
Church. By 1812, there were 15
Catholic families. Father Edward
Fenwick came to offer the first Mass in the area.
Because of the crowd drawn from outlying areas, it was held outdoors,
under an oak tree at the Shorb farm.
Father Fenwick became the first bishop of
Cincinnati
and all of
Ohio
in 1822. In
1823 he gave permission to build a church on 5 acres of land donated by John
Shorb, the present site of the church. The
first church was a brick structure 40 feet by 90 feet.
Bishop Fenwick dedicated it in 1824.
St. John’s
became a center of missionary activity.
Its pastors ministered to Catholics in more than 20 counties, and 15
parishes were founded as missions of
St. John’s
.
The first church was enlarged twice, and by 1867, was no longer adequate.
Under the new pastor, Father Berthelet, the present church was built
1870-1871. The original church was
demolished.
The
present
St. John
the Baptist Catholic Church was built of pure
Gothic design with a clerestory. The
church without tower and sacristies is 144 feet long and 60 feet wide.
The cornerstone was laid
Sunday, July 10, 1870, with a crowd of 5,000 people present.
The church was dedicated by Bishop Gilmour on
December 29, 1872
.
The
architects were Renwick and Kiely of Brooklyn, New York, who also designed St.
Patrick’s Cathedral in
New York City. The
cost, without interior decorations was $80,000.
It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, the
150th anniversary of the parish.
The marble altar was consecrated by Bishop Hortmann on
February 10, 1897
. The
Bavarian terra cotta Stations of the Cross were erected in 1896.
The stained glass windows depicting the 15 mysteries of the Rosary were
erected in 1909.
In
1924, the church was refurbished for the occasion of its centennial celebration.
The Repository described the
ceremonies, with three bishops, over a hundred clergy, and thousands of people,
as significant and impressive.
In
1925, Monsignor Graham established radio station WHBC at the church in order to
broadcast his sermons. WHBC, long
since sold to secular interests, remains as the preeminent radio station in the
city of
Canton.
The
original pipe organ was built by the A.B. Felgemaker Company (Opus 253) in 1883. The
Felgemaker organ was replaced by a Tellers Organ (Opus 302) around
1923/1924, a 3 manual, 25 stop instrument. It fell into disrepair around 1964 and was removed in the mid
1970’s. In 1978, 2 historic
E.M. Skinner pipe organs were purchased (from First Methodist – Akron and Carnegie Hall – Pittsburgh , PA) and combined to make the magnificent organ that
lead our worship until May of 2003. It
contained 78 ranks (sets of pipes). Combined
with the wonderful acoustic of St. John’s, it was an impressive organ.
Portions of this organ were reused in our new
Kegg Organ (2004). Read
about our new Organ.
In 1980, the interior of the church was renovated.
It included broadening the main floor of the sanctuary and removal of the
old marble rails. Marble from these
rails was incorporated into the base of the pillars at the edge of the
sanctuary. The white marble
Baptismal font was moved into the congregation seating area during this
renovation. In 1997, the Gallery
(organ and choir loft) was expanded.
In 2000, the whole interior was cleaned and repainted.
Other features of the church include the spire atop the bell tower.
It soars 180 feet into the air. The
tower contains a great clock with four faces, and four bells (for the Westminster
strike) and the original 1,000 pound church bell
named in honor of
St. John
the Baptist.
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