My Hometown
*The information shared in this blog was shared verbally with me and believed to be accurate. An attempt has been made to confirm all of the information, but sadly there is little information to be found about some of the items listed.
Do you know much of the history of your hometown? Sadly…I know very little. In fact, I have learned more about my hometown since moving away from there over 30 years ago.
I grew up in Cincinnati, OH. Ok…actually that only partly accurate. Truthfully, I grew up in a suburb of Cincinnati called Norwood, OH. However, Norwood was a small community that sat right in the middle of Cincinnati. If you traveled out of Norwood, in any direction, you went into some part of Cincinnati. Basically, Norwood is a city within a city.
I moved away from the area essentially when I graduated high school and moved to TN to go to college. (Or really to play baseball…college was just part of the obligation). And even though my family still lives in the greater Cincinnati area, I never fully lived there again. I met a TN girl, and the rest is history.
Speaking of history, since 2012 I have taken groups from my church to serve alongside various church plants in the Cincinnati area. Since 2017, we have specifically assisted a church in the Price Hill area known as Revive City Church. On our most recent trip to Price Hill, July 2022, I learned something about my hometown that I had never heard before. My team was learning some history of the area and we stopped at a building that used to be a church. (See picture)
The building, now known as The Sanctuary, is now owned by a non-profit organization. It is used for weddings and other various events. However, what grabbed me is what the building once represented. The building sits on Saint Michael Street, just 2 blocks from the Ohio River. The building was established in 1847. At that time, slaves from the south would make their way to the Ohio River and wait. They would wait till darkness and look for a light. The light would come from the church tower. The light represented that it was now safe for those that had made it to the Kentucky side of the Ohio River to cross in boats or rafts or whatever they had.
Those that made it to the building, would then be hidden there until it was safe for them to move on. They would receive food, shelter and even some schooling as most could not read or write.
It’s interesting to me that the building that once served as a safe haven for slaves, is now called the Sanctuary. It’s sad to me that I have lived 52 years and never knew such rich history of my hometown. I have always been proud of where I am from. I am even prouder now.
