St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church

St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church was first built by French and Irish immigrants between 1811 and 1815 and was the first Catholic congregation established in Portsmouth. Increasing membership necessitated the building of new structures in 1831 and 1851. Fire destroyed the third building in 1859; that same year the congregation began constructing a fourth structure, completed in 1868. It burned in 1897. The current Gothic Revival church here, noted for its stained glass windows, was designed by John Kevan Peebles and dedicated in 1905. It was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Department of Historic Resources, 2003