St. Patrick’s Catholic Church was established originally as St. Peter’s Catholic Church in 1865-1871 at 950 Prospect Street. Many Irish immigrants moved into the near south and southeast sides of Indianapolis during this time. A Gothic-style church was constructed here at the cost of $22,000. The original St. Patrick’s church burned down in 1927 due to arson and was completely rebuilt in 1929 – that church still stands before you today. It is larger than the first church and can hold about 1,000 people. Designed by Swiss-born architect Adolf Scherrer in the Spanish Renaissance style, the new St. Patrick’s Catholic Church was dedicated by Father Joseph Chartrand, bishop of the Indianapolis diocese of the Catholic Church. They brought in a marble altar from Italy at the cost of $10,000. The school and rectory were constructed in the early 1920s and the church campus continued to expand. After that, the convent was built in the 1950s. 

St. Peter’s Catholic Church was one of the first four parishes of Indianapolis, serving the 4,000 Irish-born residents living here in the second half of the 19th century. The first parish was St. John’s, located downtown, followed by St. Patrick’s in 1865, then St. Joseph’s on the northeast side of downtown in 1874, and lastly St. Bridget’s on the northwest side in 1879. St. Patrick’s opened with Father Joseph Petit as pastor. Other pastors of St. Patrick’s Church included Father Peter R. Fitzpatrick, Father Patrick McDermott (1879-1882), Father Hugh O’Neil (1882-1885), and Father Denis O’Donaghue (1885-1900). The parish directory listed family surnames such as Sullivan, O’Connor, Curran, Shea, O’Brien, Griffin, O’Neil, Mahoney, Kelly, and Murphy. Today, St. Patrick’s Church predominantly serves a Latinx congregation.