La Paz Church was initially established as a
visita of the
Our Lady of Candles Parish in
Jaro. Friars of the
Augustinian Order managed the church, which was one of two parishes handed to them (the other being
San Jose Placer Church) in exchange for Jaro. In 1870, La Paz Church was established as an independent parish, with Fr. Candido Gonzales serving as its first parish priest. Fr. Gonzales initiated the construction of a convent and a place of worship made of wood and bricks. Between 1870 and 1874, he began building the colonial stone church, which was completed in 1895 under the leadership of Fr. Mariano Ysar. Despite surviving the ruins of the
Second World War and the devastating 1948 earthquake that destroyed the
Oton Church, the church sustained significant damage. Reconstruction efforts were spearheaded by Fr. Melecio Fegarido in the 1960s, and the restored structure was consecrated on May 24, 1995. The parish was served by fourteen Augustinian priests before its administration was turned over to the secular clergy in 1910. Over the decades, the church became the mother parish to several daughter parishes in La Paz and
Lapuz districts, namely Our Lady of the Assumption Church (1952), St. Clement's Church (1962), Our Lady of Fatima Church (1972), and San Lorenzo Church (1992). == Architecture ==