Founded in the late 1800s as the third French parish in Fall River (after St. Anne's Church and Parish Complex and Notre Dame de Lourdes Church (Fall River, Massachusetts)), Saint Mathieu's once stood near near the corner of St. Mary Street and Wellington Street near Saint Mary's Cemetery. The church was designed and built by Louis G. Destremps in 1893. It was a large, red brick church with tall twin brick and black-shingled spires. It had its own school and rectory, both of which were borrowed in the early years by the neighboring St. Michael's parish in its infancy. At some point in the churches history the tall shingled steeples were lowered to a height just above the brickwork.
The church was demolished in the late 1980s; the rectory and school remain, the school having been converted into appartments. Windows of the church were used in the renovation of two other churches. St. Jean-Baptiste Church (Holy Trinity Parish) Fall River, received the Rose Window of the Four Evangelists and St. Mary's Church in Norton, Massachusetts received other windows.
To see what the church looked like go to Saint Anne's, where a model of it is located in the rear of the nave. Also located there is a model of the former Prevost High School which was located on Eastern Ave near the Notre Dame parish complex.