This Italianate, woodframe building was designed by Charles Devlin and built as a church in 1888. Starting in 1895, it also served as a school.

In 1916, when a new church was built on Howard Street (now South Van Ness Avenue), the entire building was converted into a school.

The school was run by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, who first came to California in 1886 and settled in what became the diocese of Sacramento. This is the Order's only school in San Francisco. It eventually reached an enrollment of four hundred pupils.

The building continues to house Saint Charles School, a K-8 Catholic school.

Adapted from San Francisco Planning Commission Resolution 9043, July 16, 1981.