Waukesha’s first Catholic congregation—St. Joseph’s—was established in the 1840s and served as the city’s sole catholic parish until St. Mary’s was established in 1949. Members worshipped in the chapel of the newly completed Catholic Memorial High School, the building of which also housed St. Mary’s grade school students until the 1953 construction of a school building directly to the south of the high school. The new educational facility, with its clean horizontal lines and lack of ornamentation, reflected typical 1950s school design. The building’s uppermost floor was built to house the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity who taught there. Also, extending from the rear was a gymnasium wing that would double as a parish hall, as well as serve as the home court for the Catholic Memorial Crusader basketball team, which did not yet have a gym for themselves.

In 1960, student enrollment warranted an addition to the school; that same year, a 1950s Contemporary-style rectory was added to the grounds. Completing the complex was the 1964 construction of a church, which was dedicated in January 1965. While also contributing to the architectural significance of the complex overall, St. Mary’s Catholic Church alone is an excellent and largely intact local example of 1960s Contemporary church architecture, both inside and out. The church exhibits a dramatic combination of Lannon stone and glass, along with a soaring and overhanging prow-like roofline that protects a large window wall of faceted glass and mosaic glass that was executed by regionally known artist and craftsman Conrad Pickel. Additional stained-glass windows on the interior were designed by Donald Camplin, also of Conrad Pickel Studio. While some of the interior statuary was designed and created in Germany, others were carved by artisan William Thalmayer, who was also a St. Mary’s parishioner.