St. Francis Church was the oldest parish in the Covington Diocese and a pioneer mission center for East Kentucky. The parish, the second oldest in the state, was formed by Maryland settlers who arrived in 1786. Its first church was built about 1794, and its resident pastor was Reverend Stephen Theodore Badin, the first priest ordained in the U.S. The present church was constructed in 1820 at a cost of $3,600 and was dedicated to Francis de Sales. Four priests who served here became bishops: Edward Fenwick in 1822, Guy Chabrat in 1834, F.P. Kenrick in Philadelphia in 1830 and in Baltimore in 1851, and F. Brossart in 1915. Bishop G.A. Carrell, also a pastor here, established the first seminary of the Diocese in 1856. Visitation nuns located a school and convent here in 1875 before moving to Cardome in 1896.