Sacred Heart Catholic Church (New Bavaria, Ohio) records

In 1843, Father Amadeus Rappe, priest of St. Francis de Sales in Toledo, began serving the Catholics in New Bavaria, then called Poplar Ridge. The community remained a Station of Toledo until 1850, when Poplar Ridge became a Mission of Defiance. The first church in Poplar Ridge was a log chapel built about two miles east of the village in 1847.

Sacred Heart's first resident pastor was Father A. Magenhann, who was appointed in July 1861. He was reassigned a year later, and the parish was a Mission of Defiance under Father Aloysius Hoeffel. The second resident pastor, Father Charles Barbier, began the erection of a frame church in 1865. Neither Father Barbier nor his successor, Father Joseph Reinhardt, were able to complete the structure because of financial issues and discord among the congregation. It was later completed during the term of Father Nicholas Moes, who was pastor of the parish from 1867-1873.

After the church was destroyed by fire in 1886, a temporary frame structure was erected while plans began for a permanent church. The structure was still standing in 1972 and was known as the "Old Chapel." The new brick church was built after Father J. A. Michenfelder raised a subscription of $17,000. It was dedicated in 1888.

After the 1886 fire, the people of Hamler, Holgate, and North Creek petitioned for their own churches. The communities then became Missions of New Bavaria. North Creek, which built its own church in 1887, again became a Mission of Sacred Heart in 1976. A school was operated at Sacred Heart from 1890 to 1970.

Mossing, Lawrence A. S.T.D. History of the Diocese of Toledo. Northern Ohio - West Section Missionary and Parish History. Diocese of Toledo. Toledo, Ohio. 1984. Pages 116 - 121.