History
In 1896 eight local men petitioned Bishop Patrick Donahue to build a church on the outskirts of Wheeling. Construction began the next year, and the church was dedicated in 1897 with Reverend C.J. Cluser as pastor. The parish was composed of twenty-eight families. Much of the labor that went into the construction of the church was performed by parishioners. Bishop Donahue offered the first Mass on July 4, 1897. In 1900 the Marist Fathers were invited into the parish. They staffed St. Michael Parish until 1982. At that time, the parish was transferred back to Diocesan control.
In the late 1920s the parish was able to acquire a parcel of land on National Road. A new school was built on that parcel of land in 1929. On January 14, 1930 the new school was opened (still in its present location). Sisters of the Divine Providence staffed the school until it was transferred over to lay control. Ground was broken for a new church in August of 1950. The church was completed within one year of the ground-breaking. St. Michael Church is considered to be one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese.