St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1890, with the first services held on East 142nd Street and Alexander Avenue. In 1892 the church moved to East 141 Street near Willis Avenue, The church was predominantly German.

Today, St. Peter's Lutheran Church is located mid-block on East 140th Street between Willis and Brook Avenues build in 1911. The Building was designed by Louis Allmendinger designed in a neo Gothic style along with the two story parsonage, using gray brick trimmed with terra cotta and limestone. The church and parsonage are at the end of a row of eleven unique brownstones designed by Walter Hornum and built by developer William O'Gorman. The block is within the Mott Haven East Historic District, designated by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1994.

Over the years, the congregation dropped its German language services in favor English. As the German and Irish residents move out of the Mott Haven neighborhoods, the brownstones and tenements become homes to African Americans and Hispanic families.