An arched portico with limestone columns and a rose window set the entrance while three hemispherical apses flank the other three sides.

Archbishop Henni donated 3 acres (1.2 ha) of land across Bluemound Road to the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin on September 9, 1879, for a monastery and church.

On May 18, 2006, a construction worker unearthed human remains in the area believed to be the location of the Old Cemetery near 22nd and Michigan streets.

[2] Calvary Cemetery contains a monument dedicated to the approximately 430 people who died with the sinking of the Lady Elgin on Lake Michigan in 1860.

Most of those lost in the tragedy were from Milwaukee's Third Ward Irish community and is the second greatest loss of life seen on the Great Lakes.