The church, which is built in the Victorian-Gothic style, has a steep roof and rose windows, and is located very near to the road.

[3] Nearby Kent Island is the location of the first permanent European settlement in what is now Maryland, and it was established in 1631.

[8] The Maryland colony was unique in English colonization because of its attempt to have Catholics and Protestants live together as equals.

[Note 2] The chapel, which was constructed some time before 1784, was the third permanent mission on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

It also left "the sum of 50 pounds" for a Catholic clergyman to purchase land nearby so he "may live convenient to the congregation".

Catholic leaders purchased 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) of land from Edward Rogers for the price of 28 pounds.

[18] The land was located about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Queenstown along the road to Easton and Wye Mills.

[15] A surviving baptismal register kept by Mosley shows that the original church was already built in 1784, but no records remain that list the exact year construction was completed.

These donations enabled Reverend James Moynihan to begin preparations for construction of a new church in 1823.

[20] During this time, Moynihan had health issues and was replaced by Reverend Peter Veulemans, who became the first resident priest at St.

[2] By 1868, Bishop Becker of the Diocese of Wilmington described all seven of the Catholic churches in Maryland's Eastern Shore as “old and wretched”.

[22] In 1869, Reverend Edward Henchy made plans to build a new church, with a rectory and resident pastor, in downtown Queenstown.

[25] During the 1930s and 1940s, Reverend Francis J. Fisher was responsible for replacing a cast iron stove with an oil burning furnace and electrifying the church.

[26] During the 1950s the State Roads Commission made plans to widen U.S. Route 50 and condemned the church to be torn down.

The 1820s church was changed from a rectangle to a cruciform by adding a nave on one side of the original structure and projecting an apse on the other.

[2] The most noticeable exterior features are the steep slate roofs; large rose windows in the east, north, and west gables; a Victorian bell cupola on the south side closest to the road; and Victorian-Gothic vergeboards on the projecting gables of the roof.

[2] In a newspaper article describing the dedication ceremony, it was mentioned that the "exquisitely toned bell" could be heard 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away in Queenstown.

A central aisle, with pews on each side, runs through the nave, ending at the walnut communion rail.

The paneled wainscoting was added during a 1927 centennial celebration, and is made to look similar to the 1877 gallery railing.

[36] In 2019, the church received donations that enabled it to begin refurbishing the structure's windows, and more work is expected to be done on the building's exterior.

[37][38] The National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form for the church was prepared on April 28, 1978.