Proposed Fairborn Church

1969: “A contemporary-style church to serve the more than 1,000 families of Mary Help of Christians parish, Fairborn, will be erected this year. The sketch here, prepared by Architect W.W. Wurst of Dayton, shows the proposed church, facing Maple Avenue. The rectory-administration center, seen in the background, was built several years ago.

“The history of Mary Help of Christians dates from the early 1860s, when a Father Mauclerc, a missionary priest of the Society of Mary, organized a congregation at Fairfield, one mile south of Osborn. He was succeeded by Father Carl H. Hahne, who in 1868 persuaded the Catholic communities of the two towns, Fairfield and Osborn, to build a parish church in the more thriving town of Osborn.

“Following the 1913 flood, the Miami Conservatory district, organized to establish flood control, condemned Osborn and proposed use of the area as a ‘retarding basin.’ The parish church was sold to the conservancy district for $6,000, but was rented and used through the building’s golden jubilee celebration in 1918, and into the early 1920s.

“When the town was finally relocated, parishioners purchased materials — foundation stones, brick and lumber — from the Osborn Removal company for $200 and began planning a new church. In June 1923, ground was broken for the new church and by December the $18,000 building was dedicated. (Since 1962, that building has been used as the Municipal Court building in Fairborn, the city formed from the two communities.)

“[In 1954] Father Robert Maher assumed the responsibility for expansion of parish facilities. He negotiated for and purchased the Layton farm on N. Maple Avenue and named a parish committee to conduct a fund drive. Ground was broken in September to build an eight-room school and church.” (See The Catholic Telegraph, March 6, 1969)