The church "is one of the most photographed buildings in the city, completed in 1872 near the Washington Monument on the site where Francis Scott Key died in 1843.

It was designed by Thomas Dixon, a Baltimore architect and is built of blocks of a unique metabasalt, a green-toned Maryland fieldstone, with brownstone ornamentation.

Von Lingen renovated its second floor library, which has a ceiling painting and intricate carvings done by German workers.

The split was criticized, on grounds that the continuing preservation of the church proper would be threatened, with less asset value to ensure its maintenance.

[6][7] The subdivision was overturned, disallowed by Baltimore Circuit Judge Jeannie Hong, in a ruling that was the third reversal of a Planning Commission decision in 18 months.