It's possible that finances prevent this church's receiving at least a coat of paint and as a result its peeling paint detracts somewhat from its outward appearance. Still, it remains a beautiful High Victorian Gothic building, with much adornment and embellishment to keep the eye busy while in its presence. The central steeple and façade of the church are festooned with lots of terra cotta, fancy brickwork, finials and crosses. Above the entry, which is centered in the steeple is a large rose window with stained glass. The entry itself is a huge wood double door within a Gothic brick frame. Above is a wood transom filling the arch, all inside six levels of stepped brickwork with a suggested parapet above. Flanked by two pairs of Gothic arched windows, the whole makes for a very impressive and imposing entrance. Overall, the church possesses a whole lotta eye candy.
The National Register has an incorrect address for this church. It is not at 714 Alder Street, but at 405 Alder Street, on the corner of Alder Street and East Fourth Street. As well, no plaque was to be found at the site. With the construction of a new Catholic Church on the north side of town the church holds irregular masses and is maintained, as much as finances allow, as a historic site. It is a contributing building to the Goosetown Historic District in Anaconda.
Anaconda architect W. W. Hyslop designed St. Peter’s Austrian Roman Catholic Church, constructed in 1898. Its contrasting colors, pointed arches, side buttresses, tall pointed steeple, ornate terra cotta panels, and rose window reflect the High Victorian Gothic style. Built as an alternative to the Irish-dominated St. Paul’s Church, St. Peter’s primarily served Anaconda’s Croatian, Slovenian, and Montenegrin community. For Slavic smelter workers and their families, whose home countries were then part of the Austrian empire, the church helped ease the transition to America. Father John Pirnat, himself from Slovenia, was instrumental in convincing the diocese to construct St. Peter’s. He served as the church’s pastor for over fifty years, raising the funds for the 1902 rear addition as well as for many other Anaconda Catholic institutions. Father Pirnat often preached in Serbo-Croatian, performed traditional Slavic funeral and wedding services, and led the church in celebrating such ethnic holidays as Mesopust (a pre-Lenten carnival). In so doing, he made St. Peter’s a pillar of Anaconda’s Slavic community and an important bridge between the old and new worlds.
From the Montana History Wiki