St. John the Evangelist, Delphos

A post card of St. John's church in Delphos, sometime around 1907 (I have posted before, but this is a better scan of it).

I hadn't noticed before looking at this card, but there are quite a few structural similarities between this church and St. Paul in Norwalk, more evident in older photos.  (The exterior color schemes of the two are very different.)

The architect of St. John's was Samuel Lane of Cleveland: more information about him and his work HERE.

A Country Church Tour

Author Jane Ware has written two volumes on Ohio architecture, "Building Ohio." The second volume is a guide to Ohio rural architecture, and she has a good itinerary for seeing majestic churches in the southwestern part of the diocese:

- Begin at St. John the Baptist in Glandorf (west of Findlay on US 224).
- Continue west on US 224 to St. Michael's in Kalida.
- Still further west on US 224, visit Immaculate Conception in Ottoville.
- Turn south on St. Rt. 66 to see St. John's in Delphos.
- From Delphos, go west on St. Rt. 697, then turn south on St. Rt. 116 for Salem Presbyterian Church in Venedocia, a village of Welsh heritage.

The book has a lot of detail regarding the "Land of Cross Tipped Churches" further to the south as well. More information on the book HERE.

St. John, Delphos

A post card from 1907. There is a cross, it just missed the photo I guess.

St. John, Delphos

St. John, Delphos

From a 1969 commemorative plate.

St. John, Delphos

Fr. John Otto Bredieck

Father Bredieck wasn't just the first pastor of St. John's, in Delphos. He was also the founder of the town, which was settled by a group of his parishioners from Osnabruck, Germany. He was pastor from 1844 to 1858.