The tower has three stages and is 170 feet (52 m) in height, with a belfry that has Gothic arched louvers, and clockfaces set in gable dormers at the base of the steeple.

The South Church congregation was founded in 1842 and grew rapidly as the city's industrial base expanded.

The church was a mainstay and welcoming influence to the city's immigrant communities, providing outreach services to a variety of ethnicities.

Many disinterested persons thought and said at the time that this division would be disastrous to both societies, but from the active business habits of the people, the result has proved quite otherwise.

Our reply is, we are writing partly for future generations, and should be recreant in duty to them to have said less; and lest we injure the feelings of some one living person, or do injustice to the dead, we refrain from saying more.