In 1867, a group of 40 German families living in Tremont received permission from the pastor at their Ohio City church to form a new neighborhood parish, the Zion United Church of Christ. A wood frame church was dedicated in 1872, and the current Gothic style building was completed in 1885 on the same site. Services at Zion United Church of Christ were held exclusively in German until 1916. Today, the church has a new use as the San Sofia Apartments, an adaptive reuse project completed in 2020 and preserving many historic elements of the building, including its impressive 175-foot steeple and some stained glass. The congregation remains in existence and continues to hold services from the adjacent former school building. The Zion United Church of Christ building speaks to the cultural heritage of Tremont’s first German immigrants, and is a fine example of the creative reuse of a historic sacred landmark that preserves history while serving the community in a new way.