St. Paul Lutheran Church (Norwalk, Ohio) records

St. Paul's was organized on June 29, 1851, in Norwalk with sixty-four voting members. A building lot was donated for a church in 1852, and a substantial brick building was completed two years later. It still stands at 92 North Prospect Street. Although it is no longer used as a church, it is the oldest such building still standing in the city.

The congregation started off strong, but can be classified as one which never had a quarrel with any other denomination - it was too busy fighting among itself. The year 1874 found just five voting members remaining, but that number rose to twenty-seven in 1879.

As the struggling group approached the 20th century another decline began due to the use of the German language in worship. "Town" Germans enjoyed their faith, but did not retain their ancestral language in daily life. St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1901 in Norwalk as an English-speaking congregation. St. Paul's struggled to stay alive until dissolving in 1935. Just forty members remained at that time.

These two books of church records cover the years 1861 - 1933. There should have been a record book from 1851 - 1861, but it does not appear to exist. These two books were retained by Louis Schick when the church closed in 1935, and have been in the custody of his family until now.

The above history was written by Henry Timman, Norwalk, Ohio.