Downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

St. Peter Catholic Church

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, May 18, 2010

1. St. Peter Catholic Church Marker

Inscription. 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.

Erected by Descendants of Shelby Early Settlers.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Religion & Religious Structures. A significant historical year for this entry is 1840.

Location. 35° 8.851′ N, 90° 2.935′ W. Marker is in Memphis, Tennessee, in Shelby County. It is in Downtown Memphis. It is at the intersection of Adams Avenue and North Third Street, on the right when traveling west on Adams Avenue. Adams Avenue at Third Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 190 Adams Avenue, Memphis TN 38103, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in West Tennessee.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

in the Upper South,

in the Mississippi Delta,

and in the Great River Road Region.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within

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walking distance of this marker: Forrest and the Memphis Slave Trade (within shouting distance of this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Forrest's Early Home (within shouting distance of this marker); 1862 Post Office (within shouting distance of this marker); Statuary at the Shelby County Courthouse (within shouting distance of this marker); Eugene Magevney (within shouting distance of this marker); Let Freedom Ring (within shouting distance of this marker); Shelby County Courthouse (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Malcolm Rice Patterson (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Memphis.

Also see . . . St Peter Catholic Church. St. Peter Catholic Church, located on the corner of Third Street and Adams in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, traces its origins to the fall of 1840 when Bishop Richard Miles, O.P., the first Bishop of Nashville, appointed Father Michael McAleer as the first pastor of St. Peter. Just one year after the first Catholic mass was celebrated in the parlor of the adjacent Magevny House, the parish opened its doors. (Submitted on July 1, 2010, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.)

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, May 18, 2010

2. St. Peter Catholic Church Marker

St. Peter Catholic Church image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, May 18, 2010

3. St. Peter Catholic Church

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, May 18, 2010

4. St. Peter Catholic Church Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 1, 2010, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 2,045 times since then and 84 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on July 1, 2010, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.