There are discrepancies in the historical records as to whether Edward Dominic Fenwick, O.P. celebrated the first Mass in Ohio inside or outside of the home of Jacob Dittoe, in the home of Daniel McCallister, or in the tavern belonging to John Finck of Somerset.  In any case, a brick church was built on the highest point in town between 1826-27 with a capacity of 200 people.  Ever since the beginning, the twelve-acre cemetery beside and behind the church has held the remains of the faithful departed.

    The site became known as Piety Hill.  The provincial, John Augustine Hill, O.P. presided at the dedication on October 28, 1827, but Nicholas Dominic Young, O.P. served as its first pastor for 28 years.  Fenwick, who became the first bishop of Cincinnati, is the uncle of Father Young.

    In 1830, four Dominican sisters came from Kentucky: Mother Emily Elder, Sister Benvin Sansbury, Sister Agnes Harbin, and Sister Catherine Mudd.  A small brick house and carpentry shop on an acre of land had been transformed into a school.  The sisters had arrived in the winter, so classes did not begin until April 5, 1830.  Forty pupils attended.  Almost immediately, they founded a boarding school for girls called Saint Mary's Female Literary Society.

     By the winter of 1831, a new building was already completed.  It was large enough for the sisters, the boarders and the classrooms.  Situated across the street from the church, it nevertheless had its own chapel.  Tragedy struck, however, on June 8, 1866.  Fire destroyed Saint Mary's.

    For the next two years, classes were held at the old Saint Joseph College building which had closed during the Civil War.  After that, the sisters moved to a new school built for them near Columbus.  This became the foundation of a new congregation of Dominican sisters with its own motherhouse, namely, Saint Mary of the Springs.

    The construction of the present church in 1857 was supervised by James Whelan, O.P., the second pastor of Holy Trinity and eventually the second bishop of Nashville.  The new church was built over the old one.  When it was ready, the old one was disassembled.  The present church was designed to hold 550 worshippers.

    The sisters returned in 1885, but the ownership of the spacious building transferred to the Dominican friars who used the first two floors for the publication of religious periodicals.  The operation was called The Rosary Press.   The sisters used the third floor for a free school.  Then in 1900, the sisters moved into the rectory beside the church.

    The Rosary Press was initiated in New York City in 1890, but it moved to Columbus in 1897.   After the acquisition of the Holy Trinity School building in 1898, it remained in Somerset.  The Rosary Magazine included art, science, geography, history and poetry, with an international circulation reaching 175,000 per month.  The press also produced The Torch, the Rosary Bulletin, the Holy Name Journal, The Tower, Josephinium Review, the Dominican Mission Book and more.  In its heyday, the Rosary Press employed 45 people as printers, typesetters, pressmen, trimmers, binders and sorters.   For economic reasons, The Rosary Press was forced to close in 1964. 

    Holy Trinity High School was established in 1904, but it offered only a three year program until 1927.  It was highly ranked, but grew too big for its limited resources.  Therefore, it celebrated its last graduation in 1960.  Fire safety required the construction of a new building from 1967-68.  So, the grand building which had housed the press and the school for generations was sadly demolished.  The sisters moved to the Saint Joseph Convent in 1966.  A year later, James McGee, O.P. turned the Holy Trinity Convent into a rectory again.  The new school building now provides the parish with a place for its activities.  After the collapse of Saint Joseph Priory, the sisters moved back to town in 1975, and eventually back into the rectory.   Adapting to changing circumstances, the parish has, nevertheless, remained constant.  The history of Holy Trinity Church is indeed glorious, and its future is full of hope.