Sacred Heart parish was established in the 1800s to serve the residents of the Tri-Town Area (Dawson, Dickerson Run and Vanderbilt.) A church and later rectory will built on the hill above Dawson proper at the intersection of Boyd and Griscom in a field overlooking the town below.
Later, a cemetery was added across the Youghiogheny River from Dawson on what is known today as Dickerson Run Hill.
In the 1960s, a basement was dug underneath the church for the addition of the church hall as well as the church’s first toilet facilities with indoor plumbing.
In the 1970s, the church became a mission of Immaculate Conception parish, becoming a chapel of convenience, known as Sacred Heart Chapel. This continued until 2007, at the immediate death of Father Francis Lesinowski of the Saint Rita Parish, thus depleting the availibility of preists in the Connellsville Area School District. As a result the Sacred Heart Chapel was closed with the last mass being held in 2007.
The church was later sold by the Diocese to a non-denominational church and in 2017 was sold to a private owner.
Queen of the Yough RC History 