A mission was organized in Mount Pleasant in 1876, and in 1882 the present building was begun. Local businessman William N. Brown contributed most of the building funds, and the bricks and lumber were made in his plants. The interior design of St. John's was adopted from a chapel on the English estate of the Duke of Devonshire. The Rt. Rev. George D. Gillespie consecrated the church in a three-hour ceremony on January 10, 1884, after which parishioners repaired to a local hotel for a ten-course dinner.