The St. Gertrude Church was built in 1911 by the Dusquesne Construction Company on land purchased by the Arch Abbott Boniface Wimmer, the founder of St. Vincent's College and Seminary. The church is a basilica plan with a central pavilion that slightly projects from twin campaniles.
The entrance has three Romanesque semi columns, a sculptured frieze, and a cornice broken by a sculptured tympanum. Above the entrance arch is a thirteen light rose window with a classically designed tracery. The campanilles have arcaded openings with pairs of Romanesque columns similar to the semi-columns that flank the entrance. Since its construction, St. Gertrude's has been considered a visual focal point in Vandergrift.
John T. Cornes (1873-1922) was the architect for St. Gertrude's. When the church was designed, Comes worked for the Pittsburgh architectural firm of Rutan and Russell. Recognized as a specialist in the design of ecclesiastical buildings, predominantly Roman Catholic churches, Comes was the architect for numerous churches in the Pittsburgh area during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Along with the Church of St. Agnes in Pittsburgh, St. Paul's in Butler, and St. Mary's in McKeesport, St. Gertrude's is considered one of Comes's finest works.
