Salem United Church of Christ

“German Evangelical Reformed Church of Salem” Sycamore St., Cincinnati Photo courtesy of The Public Library of Cincinnati

The congregation of what is now called Salem United Church of Christ was organized in 1857 by “poor but honest, God-fearing, thrifty, and industrious” German-Americans under its original name of Third German Reform Church. The congregation built the church pictured here in 1867 and had the name as it was then “Deutsche Evangelische Reformierte Salems Gemeinde” engraved over the entrance. After dropping “German” from the name during World War I and a series of denominational unions, the church is now call Salem United Church of Christ and has dropped the use of German in services.

Today, Salem United Church of Christ is home to Gabriel’s Corner and the Know Theatre Tribe, which strive to promote tolerance, multiculturalism and diversity in Over-the-Rhine.

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 94

German Heritage Guide to the Greater Cincinnati Area, by Don Heinrich Tolzmann, Little Miami Publishing Company, Milford, Ohio, 2003, page 74

The Know Theatre Tribe, iRhine.com, Accessed 18th November 2009, http://www.irhine.com/index.jsp?page=home_know