A Brief History
The Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches is located in the
northwestern part of Ohio. The name comes from the large number of Catholic
churches with cross-tipped-spires that dominated the skyline and region. This large collection of churches started
popping up in the late 18th and early 19th century as the
growing immigrant population mostly of German decent desired to grow their
faith like their crops closer to home.
The Society of the Most Precious Blood under the leadership of Father
Brunner was instrumental in the construction and founding of many of these
churches. Today many of the buildings still stand with some so close together
you can literally travel from steeple to steeple. In 1979 many of the churches
were added to the National Register of Historic Places.
As part of the Ohio Scenic Byway program a route-designated
The Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches was created to honor these historic
monuments. The route follows State Route 119 West - starting with the Sacred
Heart of Jesus Church in McCartyville and then continues all the way to Fort
Recovery. From there you go north along State Route 49 ending at the Saint
Anthony church.
The Blog
I discovered the byway while doing some online research in
June of 2008 and have been taking and posting pictures of these beautiful
churches ever since. Over the years the
blog has gone through a few changes. The biggest change was going from one
large post with many pictures to many posts with one or two pictures. The last major change was 2012, when I
changed from a two-column format to three. The header, footer and background
graphics have changed also over the years. I am very pleased with this latest
incarnation and do not foresee any major changes in the near future.
LEFT SIDE BAR
The Churches – A small slide show of The Land
of the Cross Tipped Churches.
Search This Blog – Added in 2012. If you can’t
find what you’re looking for in the Categories section try the search function.
It will search and list any post that matches your entered search criteria.
Email Me – Added in 2012. I love hearing from folks. Feel free to drop
me a line or two. russsteeplechaser@gmail.com
New Year Resolutions – May state of the union
for the New Year.
Featured Post – Added in 2012. I created this side bar list to highlight
some of the post that I really liked or that had a special theme or meaning to
me.
About This Blog – Overview and Site Map for the Blog
How It All Started – My story on how this all
started.
Diary Of A Steeple Chaser – Formally called the
Weekly Journal. This is simply a way for me to provide information that doesn’t
fit the Picture Post format.
Land of the Cross Tipped Churches Byway – A pectoral
tour of the churches and sites you will encounter on this beautiful Ohio Scenic
Byway.
Postcard Series – This series will feature postcard
style pictures of the Churches. I
started this in 2012 with a dozen Black and White postcards. The series will continue in 2013 with a
vintage photochrom look and feel. These will get posted the first Monday of
every month.
The Way of the Cross Series - When active this series
gets posted every Sunday until complete.
I usually use a set of the Stations of the Cross from one church that I
have photographed. Each Sunday is a
different station and my include scripture and devotions.
Weekly Scripture – I started this in 2012 as a way to
breath new life in some the pictures that I had taken and posted previously. A
sort of Mini Best Of with added scripture to complement it. These get posted
every Saturday.
Selected Poetry – Every now and then I find a poem
that goes well with one of my pictures. These are the ones that I feel picture
and poem both work extremely well together.
Selected Prayer – Like the Selected Poetry above
these are the ones that I believe worked out the best.
A Prayer Before The Relics – I had the good fortune
of being able to take pictures of the Relic Chapel at the Shrine of the Holy
Relics at night. This post features those pictures along with the “A Prayer
Before The Relics” found on a prayer card provided by the shrine.
Cross Tipped Church Poem – This poem was written by
my cousin Dave while touring with me on one of my photo-outings.
Top Ten Pictures – Every January I go through and try
and come up with the 10 Best Pictures from the previous year. It can be hard sometimes on which ones make
it and which ones don’t
Poster Series – Sometimes I look at a picture and say
gee that would make a great poster. I
am hoping to add steadily to this new collection in the upcoming year.
Associated Links – Web Links to related
content concerning The Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches.
Join This Site – If you like the blog please
join and you will get updated when new posts arrive.
Stats – Stats for the blog can be found by
clicking on the sitemeter link.
RIGHT SIDE BAR
Artist Statement – A blurb about my work and
me.
Blog Archive – An archive of post from the
beginning of the blog by year.
Categories – All post have tags/labels that
correspond to places and or events that the picture was taken making it easy to find pictures of a particular
church.
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