St. Augustine Church
St. Augustine Parish was formed in 1860 as part of Ohio City's St. Patrick's Parish—one of the oldest Catholic parishes in the city. Other Tremont churches formed from St. Patrick's include Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church (1871) and St. John Cantius (1899).
The need for a new parish in Tremont arose as people of Irish descent began moving into the neighborhood. In 1896 the Cleveland Catholic Diocese purchased the old Pilgrim Congregational Church (whose congregation had recently moved into a new building at the corner of West 14th Street (Jennings Avenue) and Starkweather Avenue. The “new” St. Augustine had been built in the 1860s in Victorian Gothic style, replacing the original frame church which stood at Tremont Street and Jefferson Avenue.
St. Augustine is an interesting blend of Romanesque and Gothic styles. Its Romanesque features include a corbel table–that is, a line of stone blocks–below the roofline; large gables; and rectangular columns or pilasters. The pointed arches above several of the entrances are more Gothic in design.
To meet the needs of the neighborhood's changing demographics, St. Augustine began offering Spanish-language services in the 1970s. The congregation focuses particularly tightly on aiding the homeless and people with disabilities.
