In the village of Salaley, a stone church was built in 1819. The main cold altar was consecrated in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and the warm chapels: the right one in honor of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, the left one in honor of the Nativity of Christ. From 1836, the priest A. I. Alferyev served in the church, and from 1869, V. A. Alferov. By 1888, the first of them was 76 years old, he was a retired priest and pensioner, while the second was 41 years old. In 1898, 21-year-old Nikolai Vladimirovich Alferyev became a priest. It is likely that all three priests were relatives. Since 1845, I. F. Zolotnitsky served as the deacon of the church, who turned 62 in 1888. In 1902, 43-year-old A. I. Zolotnitsky became the psalmist, possibly father and son. Since 1899, D. I. Novozhenin was the church elder.

In 1888, there were 505 Orthodox men and 565 women in the Salaley parish. The village had a church-parish school for five boys and a church-parish school for eight. By 1904, the number of parishioners had increased to 631 men and 670 women.

Priest N. V. Alferyev was arrested on November 26, 1929, and a year later sentenced to three years of exile in the northern region. His further fate remains unknown.