Every year since 1963 a group has gathered on the Sunday after Mother’s Day to remember the people who formed and preserved the Indian Creek Regular Baptist Church and Burial Ground at the annual Salute to Pioneers. Now known as Pioneer Church, the building and cemetery are part of MetroParks of Butler County’s Indian Creek MetroPark in Reily Township. The preservation and restoration of the brick church and cemetery is a story of the power of community and a 64-year long partnership between MetroParks of Butler County and the Indian Creek Church & Burial Ground Restoration Committee. Join me to learn more about the area’s history, get an inside look into the Salute and find out how you can help preserve the church for future generations.

A Brief History

Established between 1809-1810, the Indian Creek Regular Baptist Church was founded by settlers of Reily Township as a sister church to the Little Cedar Creek Church in Brookville, Indiana. The Indian Creek Regular Baptist Church’s congregation met in the home of John Morris until a log church was constructed in 1811. In 1829, the brick church that now stands was completed on property purchased from settler Valentine Chase. The congregation elected to establish the nearby cemetery in 1830, which became the first free public burial ground in Butler County. By 1879, the church had dissolved and the building was used for Sunday schools, singing schools and revivals. A group of local residents formed the Indian Creek Historical Society in 1934 to protect and preserve the church grounds. Ownership of the property was transferred from the Indian Creek Historical Society to the Butler County Park District (now MetroParks of Butler County) in 1960.

Why Does this History Matter?

Although their names and stories have largely been forgotten, history was shaped by the everyday people who made small decisions that helped influence and create the world as we know it today. Most historians clamor to tell the stories of the people time has overlooked, both because their narratives are rare and because they provide insight into what life was actually like for the majority of the people who lived it. Thanks to the dedication of a community, the stories of the people who worshiped, lived and died around Pioneer Church are alive today. The minutes of the Indian Creek Regular Baptist Church have survived for nearly 200 years (check them out in the Havighurst Library’s Special Collections) because the settler’s decedents, local institutions and religious communities valued and protected them. The minutes shed light on the congregation’s ideology, struggles and victories and what life was like in western Butler County in the early 1800’s. The church building and cemetery are also living documentation of the community’s building techniques, their use of materials, burial practices, births and deaths.

90 Years of Preserving History

By 1934, the Indian Creek Historical Society was working to preserve the church and cemetery for future generations. Time hadn’t been kind to the church and cemetery, and the historical society’s members would later decide to transfer ownership of the property to the Butler County Park District in 1960. Former Park Director Bruce Diehl and community members Mr. and Mrs. Russell Barlion, Robert D. and Jessie V. Gillespie, Fred Kolb Jr., Leroy Vanness, Paul Vanness, Paul D. Vanness, Thomas Vanness, Thomas Weidenbach, Emery Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Paul King, Mrs. George Benzing, Jr., Mrs. Curtis Hannah, Mrs. Morris Taylor and many more all played instrumental roles in helping to preserve and restore the church and cemetery. Brick by brick, the church’s deteriorating walls were rebuilt, its foundation repaired, the roof replaced, its walls replastered and the surrounding gravestones pieced back together. The area was regularly mowed and a new parking lot was installed. In a 1961 update about the project, Bruce Diehl wrote “The effort was, and is, a fine example of mutual effort, interest and initiative in which no agency or group could have accomplished the job without the others.” The power of community dedication and strategic partnerships saved the church from becoming another crumbling historic building. The restoration work also sparked an interest in preserving history and document genealogy for many, including some of the restoration committee’s family members.

Keeping Stories Alive

After a bulk of the Pioneer Church’s restoration work was completed, the first Salute to Pioneers was held in 1963. Every year since then, the families of those who lived and died around the church, their neighbors and visitors from across the county have gathered to celebrate and memorialize the pioneering spirit of Butler County’s settlers and the people who stepped up to preserve the church and cemetery. On May 19, 2024 the Indian Creek Church & Burial Ground Restoration Committee hosted this year’s Salute at Indian Creek MetroPark. Nearly 90 people came to fellowship, walk the historic grounds and listen to music from the Pineridge Partners. Adults spent time remembering their family members who were instrumental in the 1960’s restoration efforts and paid respects to their ancestors who are buried in this quiet part of the county. Children created new memories as they explored historic cars, ran amongst the trees and ate delicious homemade treats.

Acknowledging a Difficult Past

This year’s Salute speaker was Andrew Sawyer from the Myaamia Center at Miami University. The Myaamia ( also known as the Miami) are an indigenous tribe whose lands encompassed south-western Ohio, including Butler County. Mr. Sawyer gave a brief overview of the Myaamia Tribe during his presentation and discussed the revitalization and dissemination of their language, the creation of the Myaamia Center at Miami University and a short history of the tribe. Mr. Sawyer explained that through a series of treaties the Myaamia were forced to sign, the tribe relinquished more and more land to the United States government prior to their eventual removal to Kansas in the 1800’s. Indeed, the land that the Indian Creek Regular Baptist Church congregants claimed and settled as their own once belonged to the Miami and Shawnee who were forcibly removed from or pushed out of the area. Tragically, Butler County may never be able to tell the same collective stories of life, death and community that the Myaamia and Shawnee built in the MetroParks during the nation’s early days as we can for Reily Township’s 19th century settlers because America worked diligently to silence native voices. The foundation, the beginning, of our collective human history in the MetroParks starts with Ohio’s indigenous peoples, and it’s woefully incomplete without their stories being told.

Become Part of the Story

You’ve made it through my essay, so now, a call to action; become a part of this land’s complex, evolving story. The Indian Creek Church & Burial Ground Restoration Committee is currently raising funds to replace the church’s windows, which are deteriorating. If you’re interested in preserving this important building for future generations, contact info@yourmetroparks.net about making a donation. Many thanks to the members of the committee who work in partnership with MetroParks to preserve and protect this site: Margie and Will Anderson, Steve and Mary Compton, George and Betsy Esber, Steve Gordon, Anne Jantzen, Roger and Carol Koch, Helen Madsen, Annemarie Reinhold, Ernie and Marcia Schlicter, Pete and Pam Vanness, Holly Wissing and Joann Ziolkowski.

Photos provided by: David Wood