The Methodist denomination organized the first church in Bay View. It was a small wooden church built in 1868 by English immigrants on the land donated by the Milwaukee Iron Company at what today is 2471 and 2473 S. Wentworth Avenue. In 1887, the congregation moved to this Victorian Gothic cream city brick edifice designed by parishioner WIlliam Davelaar.

After World War II, husband and wife Lillian and Willis Leenhouts designed an educational wing and remodeled the church interior, installing new stained glass windows. The Bay View Historical Society designated the Bay View United Methodist Church as a landmark on May 6th, 1984.