The parish complex is located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States, at the corner of Fourth and Main Streets.

The parish buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church Complex in 1984.

The complex was also listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties in 1992 as St. Anthony's Church Square.

The tribe ceded land on the west side of the Mississippi River, which was then opened to settlement.

Antoine LeClaire, who was French-Pottawattamie and served as the translator at the treaty signing, received two parcels of land.

[6] Mazzuchelli drew up plans for a simple two-story structure that would serve as a church and priest's residence.

It was a church, city hall, courthouse, schoolhouse, public forum, and gathering place for the citizens of the town.

The church's bell called parishioners to Mass, children to school, sounded the alarm for a fire, as well as summoning the city's aldermen for their sessions.

[citation needed] The parish's first pastor was a French missionary priest recruited by Bishop Loras, the Rev.

He traveled to other Catholic communities in the region: Muscatine, Iowa City, Burlington, Columbus Junction, DeWitt and Lyons (the north side of present-day Clinton).

Bishop Loras was also interested in evangelizing the Native Americans in his jurisdiction and he placed Father Pelamourgues in charge of the Sauk and Fox tribes in southeastern Iowa.

It remained in operation until it was merged with St. Ambrose Academy to form Assumption High School in 1958.

[17] The building, completed in 1853 in the simple Greek Revival style, was built of locally quarried stone and measured 94 by 44 feet (29 by 13 m).

St. Mary's Church was started in 1867 to serve the English speaking Catholics of the west end.

Father Pelamourgues was succeeded by several priests who stayed for short periods of time until the Rev.

[17] It was during his pastorate that transept wings with balconies were added to the church from 1885 to 1886 and the sanctuary was extended 18 feet (5.5 m).

James Grubb, the associate pastor, inspired the masses that included contemporary music played on guitars, colorful vestments, and young people sitting on the floor of the sanctuary.

To commemorate the occasion, a sculpture was commissioned and placed on the front of the church property facing Main Street.

The statue group stands atop a pedestal that encloses the church's original bell.

Called the Gathering Center, the new facility is a 7,200-square-foot (670 m2) building that includes classrooms with moveable walls for religious education classes, church offices, a kitchen and a renovated “McAnthony’s Window,” a parish-based outreach program.

[21] The church was the scene of public lectures including an 1857 series delivered to the Catholic Literary Institute.

St. Mary’s Council of the Knights of Father Matthew, a fraternal beneficiary organization, met in the school hall in the early 1900s.

During the same time period, the local Knights of Columbus council, the second to organize in the state, held special Masses at St.

Civic justice issues, especially racial injustice, became prominent after World War II.

Held in August 1963, about 2,000 participants marched to LeClaire Park to support the Iowa Fair Housing Act.

James Conroy began what has been dubbed “McAnthony's Window,” a program that serves lunch to the homeless and indigent people.

[6] The exterior of the front part of the church, which is the oldest section, is composed of quarry-faced, coursed, ashlar limestone.

It reflects a period when highly skilled stonemasons and finely worked materials were not readily available in Davenport.

The rectory, most of which is no longer extant, was also a frame structure with brick veneer that was covered with permastone.

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