Editing Benwood, West Virginia (section)

==Religion==
Benwood was once home to three churches of different religious denominations.  Of the three churches, two remain in operation.

'''Saint John Roman Catholic Church'''

Saint John Roman Catholic Church, located at 622 Main Street in Center Benwood, was officially established as a parish on August 1, 1875 when the first resident pastor, Rev. Patrick F. McKernan, was appointed to serve the Roman Catholic residents of Benwood.  Prior to 1875, the original church, which had been constructed about 1868 and was dedicated to Saint John, was served by visiting priests from surrounding parishes.  The original church was damaged in the Ohio River Flood of February 1884.  As a result, the church was demolished, and a new church was built on the same site between 1891 and 1892.  The cornerstone for the second church was laid on June 28, 1891.  The second church served the parish for one hundred and twenty-four years until it was destroyed by a fire on March 30, 2015.  The 1891 church, along with the rectory, was demolished between May 2015 and August 2015.  Ground was broken for the third Saint John Church on June 28, 2016.  The new church was constructed on the same site as the 1891 church.  Construction was completed in the summer of 2017.  The new church was blessed and dedicated on September 9, 2017.  The first regular Sunday Mass was celebrated in the new church on September 17, 2017.

The majority of the parish consists of the descendants of immigrants from several different European ethnic groups (Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, German, Hungarian, Italian, Croatian, Slovak, Czech, Austrian, Serbian, Slovenian, Romanian, Polish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian and Russian) who settled in Benwood and the outlying areas of Boggs Run and Browns Run in the mid to late 1800s and early 1900s.

Saint John Church is a parish within the Wheeling Vicariate of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston]].  Since June 20, 1995, Saint John Church and Saint James Roman Catholic Church in the neighboring city of [[McMechen, West Virginia|McMechen]] have been served by the same pastor.  On June 15, 2016, the pastor of Saint John Church and Saint James Church was also appointed the pastor of Saint Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church in [[Wheeling, West Virginia]].

'''Saint Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church'''

Saint Matthew Lutheran Church is located in Boggs Run on Boggs Run Road just outside the Benwood city limits.  The church was formerly located in what is now the Blake Brothers Post No. 46 American Legion building in Center Benwood on Water Street.  It was relocated to the present church built on Boggs Run in 1941.

'''Benwood Methodist Episcopal Church'''

A Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church was formerly located in Center Benwood.  The first structure that housed the church was located on Eighth Street.  It was later relocated to a new church built on Main Street in 1900, which was razed in the early 1990s.