 John Bapst oversaw construction of the church beginning in 1855, and in 1973 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.On January 6, 2000, the Associated Press reported that the Diocese of Portland had negotiated with and supported a Maine lawmakers' bill that barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation; this bill aimed to overcome the results of the Maine election in February 1998 that repealed the gay marriage law that Maine Governor Angus King signed into law.The Diocese did not have a position on the February 1998 vote, citing ambiguities in the law while acknowledging discrimination as unjust.