Building a Community in Churches and Schools

Building a Community in Churches and Schools. . Welcome to the Lick Run Greenway, a "green" way of managing rainwater. The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) built the Greenway to help make the Mill Creek cleaner and healthier., When it rains, runoff from this area flows into the Mill Creek through the Lick Run Greenway. The Greenway uses a special wetland, stream, and pond to clean the rainwater on its journey., Before the Greenway was built, large amounts of rainwater entered the sewer system, often causing a mixture of sewage and water to overflow into the Mill Creek. By sending runoff to the creek and keeping it out of the sewers, MSD is reducing sewage overflows, improving water quality, and restoring the natural connection between rainwater and the Mill Creek., The story of South Fairmont revolves around industry and small, family-owned businesses. However, for more than 200 years, churches and schools have been the glue bringing people together and creating a vibrant, ever-evolving neighborhood. In particular, the story of the churches and schools in South Fairmount (which was called Fairmount until the 1920s) help us understand how two very different immigrant populations built a community., Germans Arrived First , The population of Fairmount surged in the mid to late 19th century with an influx of predominantly German Catholic immigrants. For these immigrants, everything from the language to the culture was different from what they knew. Many of the established churches and schools in the area were Protestant, but as the Catholic population increased, too did the need for a space for Catholic worship and to assemble as a community. The first of these institutions was St. Peter's Church, built in 1844 on Queen City Avenue., After 20 years, the community outgrew St. Peter's Church along with St. School, resulting in the Archbishop of Cincinnati authorizing construction of St. Bonaventure Church. St. Bonaventure opened its church in 1869 and a school in 1871. Other, smaller parishes, including St. Immanuel Church and St. Martini Evangelical Church, also opened to serve the German population., Here Come the Italians! , The Italians who immigrated to Fairmount in the late 19th and early 20th centuries moved into a community with an established German presence. Although German and Italian immigrants shared the common experience of being strangers in a new land, their differences in language and culture made it hard for Italians to feel at home in the existing community institutions. As a result, the Italians opened S. Antonio Church to serve as their cultural center, a place to go for spaghetti suppers and community festivals and to experience a shared cultural heritage., Immanuel Evangelical Church , The roots of Immanuel Evangelical Ox as Immanuel United Church of Christ, predate its current location at 1520 Queen City Avenue. The first congregation of the church, composed of mainly German immigrants and working-class local residents, assembled in 1886 at the corner of Tremont and Lawnway streets. Although not as well known as other traditional German churches located in Fairmount, church played a significant role in supporting this sector of the community. By the 1920s, it outgrew its space on the corner of Tremont and Lawnway streets and relocated to its current location. The historical Queen City Avenue location and is still in operation. The historical story, Gothic Revival building serves as a beautiful example of a community institution that continues to serve the ever-changing tapestry of Fairmount., Did you know? , South Fairmount included at least seven churches of various denominations; six of these are still standing., Schools were close enough to residences in South Fairmount that most children walked to and from school., Built in 1909, the new school building at St. Bonaventure boasted electric lighting and featured an auditorium and 10 classrooms, originally divided into five for boys and five for girls.