[1] Brothers Robert (Jr.) and William Stead ran a wholesale grocery business at the present site of Christ Church until the year 1844.

[5] The founders built a small wooden church, designed by Lieutenant Montgomery C. Meigs, as its first place of worship.

[5] The church is built in an American Gothic style, using limestone and sandstone;[5] a massive belfry with a squared-off Germanic roof[3] dominates the front facade.

[6] The interior boasts transepts with galleries and hammerbeam trusses supporting the roof.

[6] There are two Tiffany windows in the church,[5] with more windows designed by other famous glass companies such as Franz Meyer and Company and J. Wippell and Co.[6] The Christ Church building has been continuously by an Episcopalian congregation since its construction.