The church was named in honor of St. Philomena, a popular saint of the period.
The dedication ceremonies were performed by Archbishop John Baptist Purcell, May 21, 1848, though services had been held since the January previous in the uncompleted building.
[1] Services were no longer held in German after World War I began.
Because of the church's location near the riverfront, St. Philomena's steeple was a well-known landmark on the Cincinnati skyline.
In the late 1950s much of Cincinnati's historic riverfront including St. Philomena's Church was cleared for the construction of the Fort Washington Way and later the Lytle Tunnel.