St. Augustine Catholic Church has a rich and important history in America as is considered the centerpiece for the oldest African-American Catholic Church in the country. It was dedicated on October 9, 1842. Free people of color bought more pews for their families than any other contributors, and then bought all the pews of both side aisles. The side-aisle pews were given to slaves, who were welcomed to worship there, a first in the history of slavery in America. The mixture of pews resulted in the most integrated congregation in the United States. Free people of color, white people, ethnic people, and slaves regularly attended the church together.