Our history began over 117 years ago. In February of 1881, a Universalist minister from Minneapolis visited William Finch, an influential businessman in Riverside, and gave a sermon attended by local Universalists. They asked him to find a minister from the east for Riverside. In anticipation of the event the women formed the "Universalist Working Society" on March 17, 1881, for the purpose of raising funds. The Rev. George Deere came the following summer and on July 31, 1881, the first Universalist Church was organized in the southwestern United States as All Souls Church.

In 1882 the Church purchased Riverside's first schoolhouse, built in 1871, for $300 and moved it to their lot, donated by S. C. Evans, at the southeast corner of Seventh (now Mission Inn Avenue) and Market Streets. The structure was remodeled and dedicated as a church on April 29, 1883. Construction began on the present building in 1891. The combined sanctuary and parish hall were completed at a cost of nearly $25,000 and dedicated on June 9, 1882. It was a monument to George Deere who was the strength and inspiration for the new building.  

The style of the building is a mixture of Norman and English Gothic architecture. It was designed by A. C. Willard and constructed by A. W. Boggs. The walls are made of brick with a facing of red sandstone quarried in Flagstaff, Arizona. The floor of the interior vestibule in the tower is made of marble quarried in Colton, California.

The stained glass windows were made by the Sebiling Wells Glass Company of Chicago and memorialize Seneca LaRue, Priestly Hall, K. D. Shugart, L. C. and Lillian Waite, Joseph S. Dennis, George Deere, Albert S. White, and William Finch. These were prominent citizens in the city of Riverside and the most important people concerned with planning, financing and construction of the church building.

 An addition which includes the kitchen, restrooms and upstairs meeting rooms was built in 1924. The outside wall can be seen under the skylight. The parsonage, adjacent to the sanctuary, was constructed in 1905. It was a light and airy house with one innovative feature: on the second floor was an open screened porch for sleeping.

In 1938 the Riverside All Souls Universalist Church joined the American Unitarian Association, the first to do so on the Pacific Coast and twenty-three years before the two liberal churches merged nationally in 1961. In 1957 the church reincorporated as the Universalist Unitarian Church of Riverside (UUCR). The Riverside church places Universalist before Unitarian in recognition of its origin as a Universalist church.

The Universalist Working Society has been active continuously since its formation and is now known as the Universalist Unitarian Women's Federation. The old parsonage next to the sanctuary is presently referred to as the "Annex" and accommodates church offices and religious education activities for the children.

That "elegant little stone church", as it was referred to by historian E. W. Holmes, was declared Riverside Cultural Heritage Landmark No. 3 in 1969 and officially so designated in 1973. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Sites in 1978.

Major seismic strengthening and restoration of the building was completed in 1988. The present congregation is very proud of our beautiful little church and hopes our visitors enjoy it as much as we do.