The unattributed design of this church is comparable in massing and many of its details to the work of the country’s most notable Gothic Revivalist, Richard Upjohn, and may have been copied from one of his published designs. The congregation’s first rector was University of Mississippi chancellor Frederick H. P. Barnard, who was ordained by the diocesan bishop during a visit in 1856. Barnard oversaw most of St. Peter’s construction, though the red brick building was not consecrated until 1871, seven years after his departure. The church’s nave has wooden hammer beam trusses with deep lower brackets. Grisaille glass by New York City artisan Henry E. Sharp fills many round- and pointed-arched windows. St. Peter’s offset square tower with battlements supports a tin-sheathed octagonal-base spire.