St. John The Evangelist, Summersville

Catholic families had first settled in Nicholas County by 1818. Rev. Charles Farrell was sent by Bishop Whelan in 1846 to serve Nicholas, Braxton, Fayette and Kanawha counties. Services were held in a small log church on Cemetery Hill, later called "Catholic Hill”. A second church was used as a fort and hospital by Union forces during the Civil War, who destroyed it upon withdrawing from the town. With a 1908 financial settlement from the federal government, a beautiful brick church was built. Destroyed by fire on New Year’s Day, 1953, it was soon replaced. St. John's was a mission of Holy Family Parish, Richwood, until 1977 when it became an independent parish.