History Knox
Mark Sebastian Jordan authors a column each Saturday reflecting on the history of the community.
MOUNT VERNON — I’m no expert on historic churches, so there’s no real chance that I would know every Mount Vernon church by sight.
I recently found this postcard image which shows a church simply billed in the photograph as “Baptist Church, Mt. Vernon, Ohio.”
No further specifics were given on the original card, which wasn’t sent, either, so there’s no writing on the card which might offer clues.
I can’t say I recognize it as a current church building in town. Perhaps a reader will recognize it.
It is very possible that this church was torn down years ago and replaced with a more modern building. The church looks like it was around for a distinguished career before this picture was taken, judging by the slight darkening of portions of its brick exterior from years of rain.
It seems to me that there was a tendency away from brick construction of churches toward the end of the 1800s, so I would guess this handsome structure dated to the mid-19th century, perhaps even before the Civil War.
If it is gone now, that’s a little sad, because its bell towers were impressive.
The postcard itself could have been made anywhere between 1890 and 1920, a rather wide window which also fails to offer us any further clues. The building next to it looks familiar to me, though I can’t place it off the top of my head. Either that building, or a structure of a similar vintage and style still stands in town.
Can anyone identify this church’s location, or the adjacent building?