Nearly ninety years of Sundays
This is the record: the building, the parish, and the people who kept both going. If you have photographs, documents or memories of St. Francis de Sales, we would love to see them.
Men of the parish digging the foundation by hand, at the start of the work.
A hand-drawn postcard of the church, sold and posted when the parish was young.
The dedication, reported in the local paper two years after construction. It is the earliest written account of the church we have found. Click it to read the whole article.
The aisle and the pews, looking toward the altar. The fittings are gone now, but the barrel vault above them has not changed.
A first communion class on the church steps. Several of these children still have family in the area. If you can name anyone in this photograph, please write to us.
A girl in her first communion dress at the grotto, the date written down the border. If you can name her, please write to us.
The thirtieth first communion class, photographed with the sisters.
“Under New Ownership”, the front page from January 2026 announcing the sale. Read the story online.
The cover of a Saint Francis de Sales Parish booklet, with two early photographs of the church and grounds.
A painted view of the church from Main Street, shared with us along with the family’s photographs.
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1920
The church is built
Built on Main Street in Mount Carbon, with a barrel-vault ceiling of metal lathe and concrete, thirty-foot ceilings, and stained glass throughout. To place it here, the builders hand-dug a tunnel to carry the stream that runs beneath the site.
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1921
The parish era begins
Mass is celebrated at St. Francis de Sales from 1921 to 2008. Nearly ninety years of baptisms, first communions, weddings and funerals for the families of Mount Carbon and the coal patch towns around it.
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1922
Dedication
St. Francis de Sales is dedicated and reported in the local press.
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2008
The doors close
The parish closes and the building goes quiet. The interior is eventually stripped, but the vault, the tower bell and the stained glass all stay where they are.
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2025
Under new ownership
Sam and Mike Kinsel buy the church in December 2025 and begin restoration. A new roof goes on first. An application to the National Register of Historic Places is in preparation.
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A note now and then, when there is something to tell.
Come and watch it happen
We film the work as we go, mistakes included.