Historians to present new book on local Catholic parish history

NEW RIEGEL — Historians from Columbus, Austin, Texas, and Luxembourg are visiting New Riegel's Left Field Pizza at 6:30 p.m. Saturday to present their new book, "The Church of Nospelter Eck: A History of Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Big Spring Township, Seneca County, Ohio." Authors Mark Coleman and the Rev. Jayme Mathias will debut the 385-page book, co-authored with Jean Ensch of Luxembourg, on Saturday. The event is free and open to the public and attendees will be able to enter a raffle for 10 free copies of the book. Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, locally known as "St. Peter's, Alvada" and largely founded by Luxembourger immigrants, once stood at the heart of a rural immigrant community in Big Spring Township, which they called "Nospelter Eck" (Nospelter Corner). For over 150 years, the parish served as a spiritual, social and cultural center for immigrant families whose roots stretched to Luxembourg, Germany and Belgium, before being razed by the Diocese of Toledo in October 2023. Saint Peter's Alvada was one of three Seneca County churches to be demolished in 2023 along with Saint Nicholas' in Carey (Frenchtown) and Saint Patrick's in Bascom. The removal of these buildings was a part of Gov. Mike DeWine's Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program, which aimed to repurpose vacant or underused properties for economic development. A combination of declining parish attendance and aging buildings that required costly maintenance led to the closure of the three churches in 2018, when the Toledo Diocese combined six parishes in Northwest Ohio into All Saints Parish, headquartered in New Riegel. The buildings stood for almost five years as chapels before their demolition in late 2023. "The Church of Nospelter Eck" tells a comprehensive 19th century history of the local Catholic community, tracing the origins of the parish from its beginnings in 1860 through the lives of the pioneering families who built its chapel, church, school and cemetery along with its enduring legacy. The book draws upon parish sacramental records, cemetery records, newspapers, civil documents and family histories spanning 160 years to illustrate a richly documented history, not only of the parish but of its people and their impact on the local community.