St. Benedict Parish was established in 1912 to take care of the Catholics who lived east of the downtown area.

A two-story, brick, American Foursquare convent was built for the teaching sisters in 1913.

[2] The two-story brick structure was designed by August Gehlhausen in the Colonial Revival style.

The church features ceilings that are 65 feet (20 m) high, a baldachin over the altar and a seating capacity of over 1,000 people.

Two of Evansville's bishops were ordained and installed in St. Benedict's before it became a cathedral; Francis R. Shea in 1970 and Gerald A. Gettelfinger on April 11, 1989.

[5] Assumption Church, Evansville's oldest Catholic parish, was chosen as the first cathedral.