Established in the mid-nineteenth century as Wheeling's second Roman Catholic parish and designated specifically to serve German Catholics, St. Alphonsus and its attendant buildings occupy important positions in the city's history and architecture. The group is an outstanding example of the pre-Richardsonian interpretation of Romanesque architecture known, from its German origins, as Rundbogenstil. Though individual components were designed at various times by different architects, the ensemble forms a pleasing, unified whole.