A History of The Baptist Church/The Community House/The Community Building

(From a program given by Laurie Baird at the 2023 Terrace Park Historical Society Annual Meeting)

The building we are in has worn many “hats” over the years. You’ve heard the saying “If These Walls Could Talk?”….today I’m going to tell you a few stories allowing these walls to talk.

In 1889 George Washington Corey drew up the plans for a Baptist Church. Construction began in 1890 and was completed in 1891. Over the years it has been called the Community House and/or The Community Building. It all depends on who you ask! For our program this afternoon we will refer to it as The Community House.

Prior to 1889, The Corey’s involvement with the Baptist Church began with Mrs. Rachel Corey teaching a Sunday school class in her home. With the rapid growth of that class, there seemed to be a need for a church building. An undated newspaper article states it was the Coreys, “who are mostly responsible for the building of the church. They started the movement, gave all their time freely, paid half of the expense and donated the lot on which it stands.” It is a very interesting structure making use of Corey’s innovative poured cement procedure also used for his Wooster Pike house and for all but one of his houses on Park Avenue.

The following photographs show which houses in Terrace Park utilized the poured concrete process.

This photo is from 1912 - Notice the windmill and water tank and the woman on the
porch in period dress.

(729 Park) With the changes over the years and major renovations the concrete has been covered. But this home was built utilizing Corey’s concrete method.

“The walls were poured a few feet at a time using handmade forms. It appears that the concrete was
scored while still wet to give the buildings the impression of having been built of cut stone. This was a very early use of cement as a residential building material, probably the first west of the Allegheny Mountains. The cement had been brought over from Europe as ballast on sailing ships. The story goes that the owner of some barges suffered bankruptcy, enabling Corey to obtain the powdered cement at auction for very little. In 1889 practically no cement was made in the United States.” 1

The above photos are of 722 and 726 Park. Notice the scoring in the cement making it to look like blocks.

After several years of use, a formal dedication of the building was held. The building was described as “a comfortable and pretty little house of worship.”

The following was written about the Baptist church, it was “well equipped and modern. Besides the auditorium there is a Sunday school room, a dining room, a kitchen, a choir loft and two dressing rooms. The interior is inviting and splendidly furnished and arranged.” There was also a steeple bell and an immersion pool for baptisms. All this happened before Terrace Park was incorporated in 1893.

Over the years, the congregation dwindled, and the Baptists no longer needed the building. After the doors were closed and it sat vacant, there was a rumor that the Nazarenes were taking over. Three civic-minded Terrace Park gentlemen, Charles Meyer, Louis Breiling and Lewis Gatch, purchased the building from the Baptists with the idea of having the Village use it for a Town Hall.

In 1921 an ordinance was passed “to issue and sell the bond of the Village of Terrace Park, in the sum of Two Thousand ($2,000.00) Dollars for the acquisition of real estate and Two Thousand ($2,000.00) Dollars for the improvement thereof, for use of the Village as a town hall. At the same time Mr. Gatch made a gift to the Village of an adjoining lot, since “council had voted to purchase church property he would donate the lot next to the church.”

By 1927 all the renovations were complete and there was $6.86 left in the fund. The town hall fund was abolished and $6.86 was transferred to the sinking fund of Terrace Park. Also at that time, a Sunday School Class raised money to move the bell from the Old Baptist Church to St. Thomas where it still is today. Notice – no bell tower now!

An interesting side note regarding the Corey Family. Mrs. Rachael Corey lived in Terrace Park until the age of 100. Terrace Park held her 100 th birthday party at this Community House. Her special birthday party was described as the following: “The program started at 3:00 p.m. with the opening address by Lewis N. Gatch. Other speakers included Charles Meyers, Louis Breiling and Rev. Thomas Mathers, interspersed by literary and musical selections. Mrs. Corey was present and greeted the guests at the old Baptist Church building on Elm Road which had been converted into a Community House and Town Hall by the Village of Terrace Park.” Until John Robinson-Circus Owner built St. Thomas Church the Baptist church which was built and furnished by the Corey’s, was the only church in the village.

The next day after her party, Mrs. Corey died peacefully in a side chair in her home. There is a wonderful story about Mrs. Rachael Corey in our archives should anyone want to research her in more depth. She was a very interesting person with many complishments.

The Terrace Park Historical Society has a photograph of Chris Corey from 1980, a great-great granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Corey standing in front of the Community House as a young girl.

Meeting Place

Besides doing duty as the meeting place of the Village Council and other civic organizations including the Fire and Emergency Volunteer Services, it has served at one time or another as the meeting place for most other organizations in Terrace Park which means anyone who has lived in Terrace Park since 1922 probably has fond memories of time spent there. Looking back, a few of those organizations are as follows:

• Kindergarten, 1 st and 2 nd Grades
• Brownies/Girl Scouts
• Boy Scouts and the Pinewood Derby Event
• Sunday School (When St. Thomas was having an addition – early 1950’s. A school bus would take children there)
• Ballet taught by Myrrl Goorian and Mrs. Len – 1960’s.
• Ballroom Dancing taught by local Mrs. Jerry Morgan (702 Floral and 806 Miami)
• Clodhoppers 60’s, 70’s
• Terrace Park Couples Club
• Police & Fire Headquarters
• Village Headquarters (Council Meetings)
• Polling Place
• Band Practice
• High School Reunions
• Easter Egg Hunts
• 'Suziesize'
• 40’s Plus
• Garden Club
• Community Parties/Dinners
• Sports Award Presentations
• Mariemont Athletic Booster Parties
• Mayor’s Court
• Terrace Park Newcomers
• Cincinnati Dulcimer Society
• Terrace Park Recreation Commission Meetings
• Kindervelt Meetings
• The Terrace Park Women’s Club Meetings
• Concerts and like today,
• Historical Society Programs/Meetings

Time Capsule

Something of interest for future generations is the Time Capsule that is buried near the sign of the Community House. The Terrace Park Centennial Time Capsule was ceremoniously buried on Friday, July 2, 1993, at 12:30 p.m. in front of the Community House. Some of the contents of the Time Capsule include: A Place Called Terrace Park, Book signed by Ellis Rawnsley, “Terrace Park With Love” an Autumn video by Susan Abernethy Frank, A Terrace Park Directory, A couple copies of the Village Views and many other Terrace Park items. A full listing is in our archives and a copy of the listing is on the back table today.

Police Chief Robert Bacon arranged for the digging of a five-foot hole for the time capsule to be well below the frost line, an important factor in helping to preserve the contents.

A 12 x 12 paver stone engraved by Schott Monument with the inscription, “Terrace Park Centennial Time Capsule – To be Opened in 2093,” marks the location. A gray paver stone was chosen to coordinate with the sidewalk and color of the building. The Terrace Park Historical Society has a listing of the contents of the Time Capsule on File in the archives. Also, during the centennial there was a grand celebration with many displays in the community house.

As you can see, our Community House has been utilized for many years in many ways. What a wonderful meeting place for so many of our residents. The Community House has been repaired, updated, and expanded several times. Each time the building has been inspected it has been deemed worthy of such repairs.

In 1992, after one “face lift” a newspaper article stated, “This building is an integral part of the community. It is well worth the expense.” Again in 2006-07 the building underwent extensive maintenance repairs and updating, bringing it up to modern code. It
stands today as a serviceable building with an interesting construction and history!

A very special thanks to Carol Cole, Esther Power and Susan Frank for some of the background material for this program. Also thank you to the volunteers in our archive room who helped research the Community House. AND….Katy Chisom for her technology help!

1 Carol C. Cole ad Esther H. M. Power, Terrace Park From Unsettled Lands to Incorporation 1789-1893.
Ellis Rawnsley, A Place Called Terrace Park

Program Presented by Laurie Baird from newspaper articles, books, and other papers in the archives of the Terrace Park Historical Society. Annual Meeting. January 29, 2023