[1] Catholic Cemetery was established by the Archdiocese of Mobile on December 18, 1848, when the first acreage was purchased north of Three Mile Creek by Bishop Michael Portier.

The circular design surrounds a square plot dedicated to the Daughters of Charity, with a large marble monument in the center commemorating their sacrifices during a yellow fever outbreak in 1853.

It was platted in this manner under the direction of Portier and was possibly executed by Claude Beroujon, who designed Mobile's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception a decade earlier.

[3] By January 1866 the older section of the cemetery was full, prompting Bishop John Quinlan to purchase an additional 15 acres (6.1 ha) adjacent to the existing area.

In keeping with its main purpose as a religious burial ground, a permanent altar with a tall bronze Crucifixion scene was added by 1929 for the All Soul's Day Mass and Rosary.