Built in 1850, the Church of the Immaculate Conception was destroyed by fire in 1870 and rebuilt in 1871 by the citizens of Smartsville on the original foundation. At one time it served 800 parishioners, mostly Irish Catholics employed at the Smartsville mines, which were among the richest mines in the state. It operated continuously as a Catholic church until the 1970s, and the building and grounds were deeded in 1998 to the Smartsville Church Restoration Fund Inc.