Historic Church of St. Peter: A look at the unique and storied structure
The sanctuary of the Historic Church of St. Peter dating to 1845 in Brownsville.
The narrow spiral stairway once used by nuns to reach the choir loft at the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville.
A detail of a rabbit is one of a number of quirky images in a stained glass window at the Historic Church of St. Peter in Brownsville commemorating the first Roman Catholic Mass west of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania.
A small pulpit was built to the right of the altar at the Historic Church of St. Peter in a style common to cathedrals as this building was initially expected to be the seat of a diocese.
We’ve reached into our archive to pull some interesting shots of the Historic Church of St. Peter.
It is the oldest continuously operating parish in Western Pennsylvania and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Catholic Irish settlers decided to build a church the same as other religious groups in the area.
To show wealth and power, they chose to locate the church so it overlooked the town and could be seen from almost anywhere.
They used rough river rock and depicted local history in the stained glass windows, which feature 32 different shades of blue.