The church is located one block north of Lafayette Park at 435 South Occidental Boulevard in the Westlake section of Los Angeles, California.

The formation of the Precious Blood parish was announced in 1923 by Los Angeles Bishop John J.

[1] Since the zoning laws in the Occidental lot restricted building in a residential area at the time, a temporary church, built in the Gothic style at a cost of $10,000, was dedicated in May 1924 on Third Street between Coronado and Carondolet Avenues.

[2] After the city zoning laws changed the second and current church building on Occidental was dedicated in November 1926.

This debt was added to reinforce the swampy lot with piles of concrete to strengthen the weight of the foundation.

To lighten the load of the church, it was built with poured concrete which was left hallow when dried.

In 2004, the archdiocese turned over staffing and administration of the parish to the Missionaries of Jesus, a religious order based in the Philippines.

[1] In 2005, the small, grinning devil located on a stairwell to the church's organ loft was featured in a photographic exhibition depicting Los Angeles's historic religious sanctuaries at the Skirball Cultural Center.

The church was remodelled in 1951 by Wallace Neff who commissioned Millard Sheets to create the mosaics in the apse.

Since the church is very intricately decorated, you can closely see 3-leaf clovers above the confessionals and rams along the side pillars of the nave.

In September 2010, after over a ten-year absence, the organ in the choir loft has recently been repaired due to water damage and is now used in most Sunday masses.

In September 1950, the Precious Blood School in an old house purchased by the parish at the corner of 3rd Street and Occidental Boulevard.

The Times wrote:"Both the neighborhood and the demographics of the student body have evolved, yet the sight of the old school looming in the background as uniformed children cavort on the asphalt playground might make a passing motorist think he'd been transported to a Catholic school in circa-1950s Chicago or Pittsburgh.

The award is named after Sister Patricia Smith, who served as the principal at Precious Blood School from 1971 to 1984.