Written by Gail Finke Illustrated by Emma Cassani

Assumption (Mt. Healthy) was once one of the Archdiocese’s largest parishes. Begun for German immigrants fleeing cholera in the city, it served 1,200 families by the late 1950s, the height of Catholic population in the northern suburbs.

1847, 1848, 1850
Cholera epidemics devastate Cincinnati, causing many German immigrants to move north and away from “bad air”; Catholics worship at St. James in White Oak.

1854
Archbishop Purcell establishes a new parish for Germans in Mt. Pleasant, first church built.

1858
First school constructed from Europe.

1870
Second church building dedicated.

1881
Church additions begin: side altars, statues, frescoes, stained glass added.

1884
Mount Pleasant renamed “Mt. Healthy.”

1894
Sisters of Divine Providence arrived to teach.

1908
Construction of new school begins.

1957
New “church/hall” building constructed; originally meant to be converted to auditorium, it becomes the permanent church.

1964-1966
New school built.

1978
Arson destroys the church interior; Mt. Healthy High School invites the parish to hold Mass in its gym during repairs. Church reopens with contemporary stained glass windows and the altar moved to the “side” of the building.

1994
Last Sisters of Divine Providence leave.

1995
Parish Center built.

1921
To help immigrants assimilate, Archbishop Moeller declares that all Catholic schools teach in English.

This article appeared in the March 2023 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.