St. Anthony, Follansbee

DRE & Youth Ministers:  The Sisters of “The Daughter of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus”

Follansbee's first Catholics arrived shortly after 1900 to work in the city's newly opened mills and factories. Rev. Matthias Madert was sent to organize the families into a mission of St. John's, Wellsburg. The community worshipped in several locations before the first church was built and dedicated in 1911. St. Anthony's became an independent parish in 1917 with Rev. Henry Parascandola as first pastor. Although a building for a school had been completed by 1927, space needs compelled the parish to use the building as a worship space instead. The school finally opened in 1938 and was staffed by Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus, and closed in 1996. The present church was built in 1942. Extensive renovations were made in 1984 after a devastating fire.