The congregation first met in a rented building downtown on Broadway, moved to Spring Street in 1852, and Grand Avenue in 1881.

In 1887 they decided to move again, to build at the current location on Wisconsin Ave.[3] The congregation hired master architect E. Townsend Mix to design their new church.

Mix's design is Romanesque Revival, with round arches and rough-cut stone contrasting with smooth brick and glass.

However, going against typical Romanesque Revival church buildings, the front is symmetric, without a big dramatic tower on one side.

In 1957 Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to a packed house about segregation, the importance of peace and love, and finding a solution to racial inequality.