St. Peter The Fisherman, Fairmont

A Catholic presence had been established in Fairmont before 1850, but it was the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad that brought the first substantial influx of Catholics into the region. St. Peter's was established as a mission of St. Augustine, Grafton, and a church was built by 1857. When St. Peter's became a parish in 1873, its pastors served nearby missions and helped to found many area parishes. The development of the region's coal fields brought in more Catholics after 1900. In 1902, the cornerstone for the present church was blessed. In 1912, construction began on the parish's first school, which remained open until Fairmont's Catholic schools were consolidated. St. Peter's and St. Joseph Parish, Fairmont, were incorporated in 1998 to form the New St. Peter the Fisherman Parish. In 1999 St. Anthony Parish, Grant Town, and its missions, Our Lady of the Assumption, Rivesville, and All Saints, Barrackville, were also incorporated into the parish.