St. John the Baptist, Monaca
St. John the Baptist was founded in 1888. Before that year, Catholics in Monaca (at that time called Phillipsburg) had to travel to either Rochester or Beaver to attend Mass. To better accommodate these Catholics, work was begun on a church in Monaca in the fall of 1888. Until 1891, the church was a mission of St. Cecilia in Rochester. The first resident pastor was assigned to the parish in August of 1891. The parish had a resident pastor until 1900, when it again became a mission church, this time of Ss. Peter and Paul in Beaver. In 1907, St. John again was assigned a resident pastor.
The church served the congregation until 1913. By that time, the growth of population in the area made the existing building too small to meet the needs of the congregation. The parish lyceum building, built in 1910, was converted to a church and dedicated on August 3, 1913. This second church eventually proved inadequate as well. On May 4, 1930, the cornerstone for a new church was laid and on May 30, 1932, the new church was dedicated. This church continues to serve the congregation of the parish.
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| Second St. John the Baptist church, 1913-1932 | Third St. John the Baptist church, 1932 | Interior of second St. John the Baptist church, circa 1925 | Interior of St. John the Baptist, 1932 |
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