Parish History

Saint Paul Roman Catholic Church
Yellow Springs Ohio
1856-2000

The 125-year-old history of St. Paul Church illustrates in microcosm the history of our state and country. It reflects the westward migration, and the gathering together of settlers sharing the same faith, which provided the nucleus of settlements springing up around the centers of opportunity.

The establishment of a diocese in 1821 in Cincinnati and a Dominican priory in Somerset, Kentucky, in 1825, provided the priests to minister to the early Catholic settlers in southwestern Ohio. The first Catholics of record in this area were the transient laborers building the Little Miami Railroad from Xenia to Springfield between 1844-46. Mass was said for them in their huts or camps several times during their stay.

In 1847 the families of Joseph Downey, Martin Whalen, Dennis Day, and Patrick Hennessy moved into the local settlement. They were served by visiting priests who celebrated Mass in their homes. Mass was also regularly said in the Pettigrew farmhouse (the stone building still stands) south of the Little Miami River, and sometime later in the bowling alley of the Yellow Springs Hotel.