The church building is located in the west end of Davenport, Iowa, United States, at the corner of Fillmore and W. 6th Streets.

It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church Complex.

A former school building operated by the parish two blocks north on West Eighth Street is also on the National Register and is listed as St. Mary's Academy.

The church property was on the northeastern section of St. Mary's Cemetery, which was established by Bishop Mathias Loras in 1849.

She visited Europe ten years later and while she was in Belgium she acquired a painting by Guido Reni, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin for St Mary's.

At the turn of the 20th century, the parish initiated a building project that established the school and convent across the street from the church and rectory.

A faulty smoke stack leading to the chimney created a fire that did an estimated $50,000 in damage to the church on Christmas Eve 1947.

Attendance at the Latin and Spanish Masses was steadily growing, with new families joining the parish regularly.

[10] After amicable meetings between the bishop and affected parishioners, in March 2020 it was announced that St. Mary's would merge with St. Anthony's Church downtown on July 1.

Because St. Anthony's needs to renovate their religious education facilities, the merger with St. Mary's will not be completed until the end of the year.

[12] It is a nonprofit organization operated by the Davenport-based religious order of sisters the Congregation of the Humility of Mary.

Plans call for the former convent to be used for office space, housing for women in the former rectory, and the former church will be converted into the Fresh Start Center where people who are establishing homes can acquire the necessary items for free.

[8] Their exteriors are all composed of dark red brick, although the convent has subsequently been covered in vinyl siding.

The church was built in the Romanesque Revival style, with a rectangular plan, decorative brickwork and a central bell tower that rises 135 feet (41 m).

[1][3] The exterior features corbelling and brick pilasters on the sides that frame the tall narrow windows, which are capped by plain round-arched hoods.

It includes gablets with cross finials, round-arched louvers in the bell-chamber and small oculi that are placed halfway up the spire.