St. Pauls Community Church (Smoketown)
by dennisbeidle
For years, this church building along Route 21 in Bethlehem Township, south of Navarre, Ohio, has interested me.
One Sunday afternoon in autumn of 2014 I stopped and took pictures of what is now known as St. Pauls Community Church, as well as the church graveyard.
The existing church building, of late gothic revival architecture, was constructed in 1913, replacing an earlier building, constructed in 1845, which had been destroyed by fire.
Its denominational linage is as follows:
St. Paul's Reformed Church
St. Paul's German Reformed Church
St. Paul's Evamgelical and Reformed Church
St. Paul's United Church of Christ
St. Pauls Community Church
The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
The church currently has one member,Howard Keith, who has taken title to and maintains the building.
It was Howard, a Smoketown community native, who renamed the church. His wife, Carol, undertook the three year process, to have the church and surrounding cemetery, included on the National Register.
The cemetery grounds is maintained by Bethlehem Township.
