The church of  the Holy Ghost was founded on the south side of Chippewa Falls in 1886.

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When Our Lady of the Pines (now Notre Dame Parish) had become too small to accommodate the growing numbers due to the increase of Catholic settlers on the south side of the Chippewa River, the south side of town made an ideal place for a new church. Fr. Goldsmith and his assistant, Fr. Strum, visited the lumber camps for donations. Purchasing a three-acre plot in the spring of 1886 on the corner of Main and Greenville streets, they broke ground for the original combined church and school. Volunteering their time and raising the necessary funds, the largely French-Canadian families worked together to build the church. Bishop Flasch blessed the cornerstone on June 29, 1886. On October 1, Fr. Strum became the first pastor and celebrated the first Mass in the new church on October 4. He and his parishioners continued collecting donations of materials and funds, and in 1887, built a new rectory and in 1888, a convent. The parish was incorporated on April 25, 1887.

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When they outgrew the original church building and with Bishop McGavick’s permission, the parishioners broke ground anew in March 1927, and the bishop blessed the cornerstone on May 15. The completed church was blessed on September 27, 1927. The parish’s continued growth necessitated a new school in 1949, a new convent in 1955, and a replacement rectory in 1958, after a fire destroyed the first around Christmas 1954.

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The Holy Ghost Fathers cared for the parish from 1900 until 1960, when they returned it to the care of the diocesan priests. To date, over 39 priests have served the parish.

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In 2008, the parish renovated the interior of the church with new flooring and paint. In 2016, parishioners successfully replaced roofs of the school, rectory, garage, and church. In other words, the same parish-based efforts that marked its founding characterize it today.