The history of the St. Augustine parish began with the immigration of Germans to the Northern Kentucky area in the 1840s, and cresting in the 1890s. The German influx of immigrants to the area was attributable to economic hardship, religious persecution and the harsh treatment by the Prussian government. In addition, advertising of attractive prices for pork played a large part in enticing the Germans to the Ohio River Valley of Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. Initial settlement concentrated in the Main Strasse neighborhood of Covington, but by the 1860s and 1870s, the Germans began to move into the southwestern part of the city, a separate entity known as the City of Central Covington. St. Augustine was the fifth Catholic parish established in Covington and the original St. Augustine church was built in 1870. The Reverend Father Joseph Goebbels led the church in the 1870s and organized a wire nail factory to pay back the debt incurred in constructing the church. The enterprise was not successful, in part because of the
Panic of 1873, and a number of parishioners lost their life savings in the venture. The parish was returned to a sound financial footing by Father Paul Abeln who was pastor from 1883 until his death in 1911. == Architecture ==