The Roman Catholic congregation which built St. Patrick's Church in 1851, was organized in 1849 by Patrick O'Dwyer. When completed, the gothic revival building housed the first Roman Catholic church in St. Charles. This limestone building has not been used as a place of worship since 1912. Although improvements such as electricity were added over the years, the building proved to be inadequate to house the growing congregation. When the new St. Patrick's church was dedicated, the original church and parsonage remained vacant for the next 60 years. Only for a short period during the 1950s did the church serve a purpose: St. Patrick's School used it as classrooms to ease the overflow of students.

By the early 1970s, the property had fallen into disrepair. Laurie and Terry Grove bought the old church when it came on the market in the early 1970s. They planned to make the church into a residence and the parsonage into a business. Due to zoning laws, they were not able to transform the church into a residence, so they decided to establish a restaurant. Once finished, the restaurant, which boasted the original pews as seating and unique decor, offered customers an interesting place to dine.

Since the church was converted into a restaurant, it has had two other owners. In the late 1970s, Sam and Tony Alex bought the restaurant. They ran it until 1992 when they sold it to Brent and Bonny Guynn. In 1996, the Guynns doubled the size of the restaurant by constructing an addition on the back of the old church. Stylistically, the addition resembles the original building due to the use of limestone in its construction. The expansion, which architect Michael Dixon designed, provided space for a banquet room in the second story and for the Friar's Pub which was located in the basement of the addition. This restaurant closed to the public in the Fall of 1999. The building is current occupied by the restaurant "18 North."