It was built in 1897 and dedicated on March 17, 1898 as St. Peter's Church, and served the local Roman Catholic congregation as its place of worship until 1968.

It was saved from scheduled demolition in 1971 by a group of concerned citizens who formed Old St. Peter's Landmark, Inc., for that specific purpose, and which maintains the building as a museum and site for weddings, concerts and other cultural events.

The interior vaulted ceiling, nearly 40 feet at its highest point, is of stamped metal, and the sanctuary is decorated with painted detail by German artist Theodore Braash, who completed his work over several months in 1954 and 1955.

The Church chose not to take any of the interior appointments or furnishings, including statuary, baptistry, wooden hand-carved confessionals or pews decorated by steam press with wood and pearl trim in a leaf and ivy motif.

The Kilgen pipe organ, made of rare tigerwood and installed in 1927, thanks to the Church Ladies Society at the time, is still in place in the loft at the back of the nave, and has been kept in working condition.