Saint Peter the Apostle is the oldest African American Parish in the Diocese of Dallas. Established in 1905, the church is still a part of the State-Thomas Historical District.

Educational opportunities in Dallas for ex-slaves were few in the early 1900s. Many settled in Freedman’s Town which today is known as both the State-Thomas Historical District and Uptown. A former slave, Mary Stacker Jordan, lived with her husband, Valentine Jordan, in Freedman’s Town. Valentine Jordan worked for the Ursuline nuns as a carpenter and maintenance employee and, while there, observed the excellent care the students received from the sisters at the Ursuline Academy. He shared his observations with his wife Mary. Although Mary and Valentine were Baptist, they agreed that it would be good to have a Catholic church and school in their community of Freedman’s Town. Mary requested a meeting with Bishop Dunn, who was Bishop of the young Diocese of Dallas at that time. After Mary’s petition, Bishop Dunn agreed with the need for a Catholic Church and school in their area.

At this time in the young diocese, the construction of the new Sacred Heart Cathedral, today the Cathedral Santuario de Guadalupe, had recently been completed. The Old-Pro Cathedral on Bryan Street and Ervay Street was in the process of being disassembled. Bishop Dunn had the remains of the Old-Pro Cathedral moved to the corner of Allen Street and Cochran Street. It had 12 members. Years after the construction of St. Peter the Apostle, Mary Jordan converted to Catholicism and was baptized at St. Peter Catholic Church in 1927.

Three years later after St Peter Church was built, with the financial aid from Blessed Katherine Drexel, St. Peter Catholic School for Black children was established in 1908. The Holy Ghost Sisters from San Antonio, Texas staffed The Sister’s Institute school. The Sister’s Institute, later named St. Peter Academy, educated many African-American professionals in Dallas and elsewhere including Maxwell Murphy.

The neighborhood of State-Thomas Historical District experienced gentrification. The neighborhood began to disappear and the dominant African-American attendance at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic church began to dwindle. The loss of parishioners at St. Peter the Apostle Church was also due to the impact that gentrification had on Saint Peter School which closed in 1987. Today the renovated school remains in its original location, next to the church, now named Notre Dame School at St. Peter. After gentrification, many generational parishioners continued attending St. Peter the Apostle, as do third and fourth generation parishioners today.

During this time that both the church and school were experiencing a loss due to gentrification, Bishop Thomas A. Tsheope requested a meeting with St. Peter the Apostol Pastoral Council. The Bishop approached the African-American council and community about a small group of Polish immigrants in need of a temporary place to worship. The African-American parishioners agreed to welcome the Polish immigrants to St. Peter the Apostle. In February of 1985, the Society of Christ Fathers from Poland assumed pastoral care of St. Peter the Apostle.  Today, Saint Peter the Apostle provides mass in both English and Polish.