Thursday, May 2, 2013

Calmoutier and its French, Iron Crosses

Calmoutier (Pronounced Cal-mooch) was home to one of the first Catholic churches in Ohio. Although the original church is long gone, St. Genevieve's Church continues to be the Northernmost location of the Columbus diocese. 


This cemetery/church has a fascinating history! Calmoutier was settled by French immigrants who named the area after their homeland. Many of the early grave markers are in French, including these iron crosses. This small French, Catholic community is seemingly misplaced in the middle of "Amish Country", which makes its existence all the more interesting. 






Iron crosses of this type came the height of their popularity during the Victorian Era. I've noticed that Catholic cemeteries often have large concentrations of this type of marker, for whatever reason. 

This video provides some great information about the cemetery, as well as a tour of the cemetery grounds:


1 comment:

  1. The iron crosses are interesting. I saw some in France when I was there, but I have not seen any in Canada. I shall be on the look out for some!

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