Maria Stein

History

The community of St. Johns was established in 1833. Its name was selected because all of its early male settlers bore the name of John. When the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railway expanded through Mercer County some decades later, its surveyors chose a path through the small community of Maria Stein, subsequently named "Station", to the west of St. Johns. As these two communities were separated by only , many business interests migrated to the vicinity of the railroad, and the two communities eventually merged under the name of Maria Stein. The origin of the name "Maria Stein" is likely from Metzerlen-Mariastein in Switzerland. This small community, not so far from Basel, has a Benedictine abbey, Mariastein Abbey. Father Francis de Sales Brunner, who established the Missionaries of the Precious Blood order that provides priests for St. John's Church in Maria Stein, Ohio, entered the abbey in 1812 and remained there as a member of the convent until 1829. Although there is no written evidence that it was Father Brunner who named the town of Maria Stein, the erection of a large church and the Shrine of the Holy Relics in Maria Stein is supportive. According to an article by Father Lukas Schenker of Mariastein Abbey, Brunner probably named the convent at Maria Stein after Mariastein Abbey in Switzerland because Brunner donated a painted depiction of the Miraculous Madonna of Mariastein to the convent, after which also the town was named. It is said of this painting that Brunner had it with him when crossing the English Channel in a sailing vessel and was miraculously saved from shipwreck in a bad storm. In this region, every small crossroads community has a substantial church, typically constructed by immigrant German craftsmen in the mid- to late nineteenth century…

Geography

Maria Stein is in southeastern Mercer County, extending from the center to the eastern edge of Marion Township. The eastern border of the community is the Auglaize County line. The community of Maria Stein is in the western part of the CDP, while St. John's is in the east-central part, east of Maria Stein. Ohio State Route 119 is the main road through the communities, leading east to Minster and west to St. Henry. State Route 716 passes through the western part of the CDP, crossing SR 119 at the Maria Stein community. SR 716 leads north to Chickasaw and south to Osgood. Celina, the Mercer county seat, is north-northwest of Maria Stein. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Maria Stein CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.02%, are water. Maria Stein and St. Johns occupy the higher ground in the CDP, with the northern side draining towards Chickasaw Creek, a tributary of Grand Lake St. Marys, on the divide between the Wabash River and St. Marys River watersheds, while the southern side drains toward Mile Creek, a tributary of Loramie Creek, part of the Great Miami River watershed.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,353
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,203
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,144
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,134
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,090
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,008
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  991
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  908

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2023-12-09
  5 km W of Jackson Center, Ohio
• M 2.6 — 2015-06-12
  6 km NW of Convoy, Ohio
• M 2.8 — 2008-09-30
  5 km SW of Kettlersville, Ohio
• M 2.5 — 2006-08-15
  3 km NE of Fort Shawnee, Ohio
• M 2.8 — 2006-05-12
  2 km E of Lima, Ohio
• M 2.5 — 2004-01-30
  2 km S of Rockford, Ohio