St. Augustine’s was the first permanent establishment of the Augustinian Order in the United States. Such notables as President George Washington, Commodore John Barry, and merchant Stephen Girard contributed to the building fund of the original church on this site.
Father Matthew J. Carr began St. Augustine's in 1796 to serve the increasing number of German and Irish Catholic immigrants who settled in the northern section of this city. Designed by Douglas Fitzmaurice Fagan and completed in 1801, it stood as the largest church in the city at that time. The bell tower, added in 1829, was the work of William Strickland, who designed a similar tower for Independence Hall. Father Carr also established St. Augustine's Academy in 1811, one of the earliest Catholic efforts in secondary education, which was the forerunner of Villanova University.
By 1838, St. Augustine had 3,000 parishioners. In the 1840s, sentiment against the growing number of Irish Catholic immigrants was inflamed by the press. The recently created Native-American Party, later called the "Know-Nothings," complained against the naturalization of immigrants. Tensions grew. On May 8, 1844, after three days of anti-Catholic rioting, the mob burned the church and rectory. Also destroyed was one of the finest theological libraries in the United States, containing 3,000 volumes. The Augustinian Order sued in court and rebuilt the church with the funds awarded. This case was one of the first tests of the rights of citizens to religious freedom under the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution, thereby affirming William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges.
The present church, completed in 1847, was designed by Napoleon LeBrun, the architect of such Philadelphia landmarks as The Academy of Music and the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.
Today the church is a vital part of the community and as active as ever with a large Filipino population now calling this building home.