According to a report from 1782, the Annunciation Church was built on May 5, 1755, with state funds. It was located high on the gates of the Trading Yard and was cold, so, according to priest Ivan Osipov, in winter it was necessary to warm hands and air with coverings under the mountain. In 1770, parishioners appealed to the governor to expand the church, as it was very cramped, especially the altar. They also requested permission to build an altar in the name of the prophet Elijah on the left side. The Kazan Consistory, responding to the petition of Governor Reinsdorp from June 22, sent a directive to the Orenburg archpriest allowing the addition of a new altar, to decorate it with an iconostasis and icons, as is customary in other Greek-Russian churches.

In 1775, priest I. Osipov began a major reconstruction of the Annunciation Church, adding two stone porches. In the current Ascension Church, the central part includes the old church. Initially, the porches ran along the outer walls, and the addition of two altars above them appeared later. The 1782 report states that due to the cramped conditions of the church, by the directive of Bishop Benjamin from May 20, 1775, a new stone cold church was being built in the same place, constructed by the efforts of merchants and other figures. In 1784, the Annunciation Church was completed, and the archpriest received a directive from the consistory to consecrate it. However, it was consecrated not under its former name, but in honor of the Ascension of the Lord, and since 1784 it has been recorded in the documents of the spiritual administration as the Ascension Church. Unfortunately, in 1786, a fire destroyed the stone churches of the city of Orenburg.