St. Peter Catholic Church
St. Peter's was founded in 1840, the first Roman Catholic Parish in West Tennessee and given to the Dominican Order in 1846. The present church was built 1852-1855 around a smaller church which was then dismantled and carried out the doors. Within 30 years St. Peter's had initiated the founding of three downtown parishes, St. Agnes Academy, St. Peter Orphanage and Christian Brothers Univ. During three Yellow Fever plagues of the 1870's, 8 priests & 11 sisters of the parish died while succoring the spiritual & temporal needs of the city. Early pastors T.L. Grace and J.S. Alemany later became archbishops. A revived St. Peter's was totally restored and added its Fr. Leo Arnoult Parish Center, 1985-91.
Submitted from the Shelby County Register's Office.