The church is located along the Allegheny River and is approximately 25 mi (40 km) north-east of the city of Pittsburgh within the Diocese of Greensburg.

The congregation was founded by Italian immigrants in the early 1900s and the current building was constructed by hand by parish members during World War II using materials from the then recently dismantled Richard B. Mellon 60-room mansion in Pittsburgh.

The church is regionally known for its annual Festa Italiana, at which there is homemade Italian food, dancing, games for children, and gambling for adults.

On Thanksgiving Day 1888, with the help of Alfred E. Hunt, Charles Martin Hall developed an experimental smelting plant on Smallman Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

[8] Prior to the United States' Civil War, Catholicism grew slowly in America, but afterward, it became more widespread as Catholic immigrants from eastern Europe moved to the four counties, which include Armstrong, Fayette, Indiana, and Westmoreland, to mine coal and produce coke to fire steel mills in Pittsburgh.

[8] By 1900, the burgeoning industrial town had 4,600 residents[2] and two years later Reverend Bonaventure Piscopo, a member of the Apostolic Band for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, formed a new congregation in New Kensington to serve the immigrant work force, many of whom were Italian Catholics.

These immigrants needed a place to worship and in 1903, the St. Peter congregation began holding Mass with a resident pastor, Reverend Vincenzo Maselli in a small building on the corner of Second Avenue and Tenth Street (known as the downtown area) in New Kensington.

Of the 808  parishioners who went off to war, seven died and their names were engraved on a piece of granite outside of the church: James DiMuzio, Arthur Capo, Nick Costelli, Justine DeFelices, Neal Chipoletti, and Anthony Zaffuto.

The parishioners from New Kensington argued that St. Peter should remain close to its current location and one was found on the corner of Freeport Road and Seventh Street.

[17] The land had once belonged to Stephen M. Young, who had been a General in the United States Army during the American Civil War and was a friend of Abraham Lincoln.

On December 1, 1938, the congregation made a down payment of $500 cash and few days later, the Building Fund Campaign opened for the new church with a committee of one-hundred volunteers.

In addition, the congregation purchased thirty tons of steel beams, sixty-five oak doors, chandeliers, and some other items, and the members transported all of the marble 27 miles (43 km) from Pittsburgh to New Kensington.

Father Paul Tomlinson of St. Peter's Church in Pittsburgh delivered the sermon in English and Archabbot Koch closed the ceremony with the Pontifical Benediction in Italian.

[26] The Cenacle was run under the supervision of Dom C. Shiarella, the treasurer of the First National Bank in New Kensington and the cashier of the Building Fund Campaign.

[26] Around this time, winter was threatening and in order for the walls of the new church to be protected from potential damage, the roof had to be laid before any snow began to fall.

[28] One of the men who helped complete the roof read about the attack on Pearl Harbor in the newspapers and decided to quit his work on the church and enlist in the United States Air Force.

Camarata became the director of excavations, concrete, block, brick, stone and marble works, steel structures, road-grading, electric and plumbing systems, carpentry, and landscaping.

Stanish collected marble, iron and bronze grilles, electric and plumbing equipment, lumber, panels, light fixtures, paint, chemicals, and ceiling and floor materials from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York.

At twelve o'clock noon, one final Mass was said in the old St. Peter Church, which had been the house of the congregation for the past thirty-eight years.

On September 28, 1941, a group of teenage boys, just out of high school, were making concrete flooring for the church at the Burrell Construction Company.

A large crane operating above them made an unusual movement, causing its bucket, which weighed several tons, to come down with a huge crash right in their midst.

The mansion was over a hundred years old, was a frame building, had very few rooms, provided poor living conditions, and had a water pump at the main entrance.

The Reverend Monsignor Giustino Meniconzi, who was the Vicar-General of the Diocese of Ferentino, Italy, blessed the statue of Christ and the American flag.

[49] Two huge granite lions, taken from the gardens of the Mellon Mansion, stand guard at the main entrance of the school and the door is surmounted with a terracotta Madonna by Della Robbia.

The menu usually includes lasagna with homemade noodles, spaghetti and meatballs, hot sausage sandwich with onions and peppers, pasta e fagiole, Italian rice balls, and other items such as pulled pork and baked chicken.

Desserts include cannoli, frappe, pizelles, biscotti and gelato [53] One parishioner explained, "I like seeing everyone from town, but the food is always an attraction.

"[54] The organizations listed are the ones that are currently active, there were in the past, many others, like the Committee of a hundred (mentioned in the history section), which are no longer in existence.

All the members of the Saint Anthony Guild are women and they strive to provide their group with fellowship and spiritual renewal through the help the bestow on the church and community.

Some of these include a dance for parishioners in the fall, bingo nights, and selling coupons for special shopping days at Macy's.

The group consists of eighteen elected members and it advises and assists the pastor in important decisions concerning the affairs of the church.