[3] The parish was founded to serve the German members of the Detroit community, not only with the church itself, but also with its primary and secondary schools.

[3] The church continued as a primarily German parish until after World War I, when large numbers of blacks moved into Detroit and settled along Hastings Street.

[4] The church flourished, and in the late 1930s, the congregation petitioned to move to the nearby Sacred Heart, due in part to the school building on the site.

[4] After World War II, the Interstate 75 freeway was built through the area, displacing the black parishioners living on Hastings.

The Sacred Heart church is a red brick, pedimented Italianate structure with an entrance projecting toward the street.