Old St. Joseph’s Church steeple crashes down, building collapses
LOCUSTDALE – The steeple of the old St. Joseph’s Catholic Church here is on the ground and with it came much of the building earlier this week.
It came down Thursday afternoon. The steeple is laying in the yard next door and much of the midsection of the building is gone as well.
The church is on Main Street in the village in Conyngham Township, feet from the Schuylkill/Columbia county line.
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – The steeple lays in the side yard at the former St. Joseph’s Church in Locustdale on Saturday, May 31, 2025. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Caution tape and a mesh fence block the entrance to the property. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – The county line sign is seen across the street. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – A sign for the former Locustdale Water and Spirit Church is still seen on the front of the building.
It had been seldom used in a decade after at least two revival attempts in the form of the Good News Bible Church and the Locustdale Water and Spirit Church. A No Trespassing sign was posted on the front door at the time of collapse.
The church was originally St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, formed in 1913. It merged into Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the borough of Mount Carmel as part of a wave of parish mergers in 1995 by the Diocese of Harrisburg. The majority of the church mergers then were in lower Northumberland County.
No injuries were reported in the collapse and the property has been taped off.
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