St. James Catholic Church celebrates 100 years of community building

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) – St. James Catholic Church in Clarksburg celebrated 100 years of community building by hosting an open house.

The event took place at the old St. James school on Saturday, where many of the visitors got to travel back in time and roam the halls they once did decades ago.

Parish officials said this is the first time they have held an open house like this since the school shut down years ago. Former student Frank Samuel Perri, who said it’s been around seven decades since he first was in that first grade classroom, was happy to return.

“Pretty exciting, brings back a lot of memories, and it was neat going into the first grade room and actually sit in the little seat where I was actually in the classroom,” Perri said.

Michael Spatafore, Director of Religious Education at St. James Catholic Church explained the locations history.

“In the early 1900s we had a lot of immigrants that came from France, Belgium, Italy, Spain,” Spatafore said. And so really North View is kind of a melting pot and the parish church itself became a melting pot. So I think that’s why it’s important, we really feel like a family here.”

Spatafore and Perri were not the only ones who had built a sense of home and community with the parish. One woman told 12 News she studied at St. James up until eight grade and would later on get married to her husband at the parish. The couple said they’ll be celebrating their 52 ^nd wedding anniversary next week.

More information on St. James Catholic Church can be found on its website .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com.