St. James, McMechen

Ten Catholic families lived in McMechen in the early 1890s. A missionary priest occasionally came from Pittsburgh, but these devoted people usually walked to Benwood - often on the railroad tracks - to attend St. John Parish. By 1898, there were thirty Catholic families. Bishop Donahue established St. James the Lesser Parish and appointed Rev. Thomas Collins as the first pastor. Men of the parish undertook construction of a church and dug the foundation. By November 1899, the cornerstone was laid, and the church was completed the following year. SS. James and John grade school opened in 1926 and was staffed by Sisters of St. Joseph and Dominican Sisters until it was transferred to lay control. Bishop Donahue Memorial High School, adjacent to the parish, was opened in 1955 and closed in 2017.