Jefferson County, PA 1878

2021 Steiner Cabin Tour

In 1937, Henry, John and Fred with an additional crew of five took five months to build the St. John Catholic Church at Welches. The original church had collapsed under the heavy snow of 1936. Henry and Father Doherty designed the church in the shape of a cross. It was 72 feet long and 45 feet wide, 27 feet to the peak. The crew was paid the going rate of $6.00 day.

Due to the widening of highway 26 in 1972, through Welches the St. John Catholic church needed to be moved. It was purchased by the Mountain Players and moved to where the Welches Subway restaurant is now. However, funds for remodeling and repairs ran out and the church was put up for sale in 1976.

In 1976 Mike Gudge purchased the St. John Catholic church and had it moved by Emmert International to its current location on property that he owns. It turned out to be a very difficult task which caused some damage to the structure. Mike said that if he had to do it over, he would mark all of the logs, dissemble the church and rebuild it at its new location. For the next 20 years John Steiner assisted Mike in making repairs which included rebuilding the porch and relacing foundation logs. After John passed away, Mike continued the restoration which was not completed until 2022.

2025 Steiner Cabin Tour