Joseph Doddridge founded a church here in 1793, but Indians burned the first log building. The present brick church, third to serve the parish, displays rudimentary Gothic details in its lancet windows, but its overall proportions, especially the shallow gabled roof, are Greek Revival. Before the frame canopy over the entrance was added, the facade of St. John's was quite similar to the now-abandoned Bruce Chapel ( MS14) in Mason County. After a number of years of inactivity, the church was reopened in 1950 as a mission, and repairs were made to the building.
Joseph Doddridge is best remembered for his history, Notes on the Settlement and Indian Wars of the Western Parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania, first printed in 1824 in Wellsburg. His delightful description of his first encounter with a house not made of logs is quoted in the introduction to this volume.