The parish of Sts. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic church was founded in the midst of controversy in 1906. Archbishop Henry Moeller founded the Norwood Heights Company and under that name bought, subdivided and resold land to Catholics in Norwood. This company and its dealings were much talked about and some accused Moeller of “land speculation in the name of faith.” In spite of the bad press surrounding the project, Moeller bought a large plot of 16 acres for a new cathedral which, he thought, would be a prime spot for the new Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
Unfortunately for Moeller, plans for the city of Cincinnati to annex Norwood never came to fruition, and, because canon law stated that the Cathedral for the Archdiocese must be located within the city in which the Archdiocese is headquartered, Moeller’s plan for a new cathedral was ruined. As a result, the parish built a modest church, which was dedicated in 1907, and in 1937, some thirteen years after Moeller’s death, a new Gothic style stone church was designed for the parish by German-American architect Edward J. Schulte, and was dedicated in 1940. Today, this church building is home to Holy Trinity Church, a consolidation of three Norwood churches: Sts. Peter and Paul, St Elizabeth and St. Matthew.
Bibliographical Sources:
The Bicentennial Guide to Greater Cincinnati: A Portrait of Two Hundred Years, by Geoffrey J. Giglierano, Deborah A. Overmeyer, with Frederic L. Propas, The Cincinnati Historical Society, 1988, page 410
