Three Acts in Over-the-Rhine

The Over-the-Rhine Museum is delighted to announce the next installment in our story-sharing series, “Three Acts in Over-the-Rhine” on Wednesday, March 11, 2026 at 6:30 PM at Saint Francis Seraph Church, 1615 Vine Street. The event will focus on the long history of Catholic ministry at the corner of Liberty and Vine. A tour of the crypt, the courtyard, and first floor of the friary will follow the presentation.

Cincinnati’s first Catholic church was founded in a one-room log building on the north side of Liberty Street in 1818. The church and adjoining cemetery served Cincinnati’s growing Irish Catholic population. Though that first church moved, the cemetery remained, only to be built over in the construction of St. Francis Seraph in 1858. For the last 168 years, Saint Francis Catholic Church, School, and Friary have been essential fixtures of the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, witnessing sixteen decades of neighborhood change. On January 22, The Franciscan Friars announced they will close the historic church in June 2026. With the future of Saint Francis in flux, we hope you’ll join us to learn about the church and its ministry as it is today and has been in the past.