Christ Church Cathedral is an Episcopal

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

located in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

, United States. It is the seat of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts. In 1974 the cathedral was included as a contributing property in the Quadrangle–Mattoon Street Historic District, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

History

Christ Church Cathedral Springfield Mass 1905-1915

Christ Church began on May 13, 1817, in the chapel of the

Springfield Armory The Springfield Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until ...

under the guidance of the armory's superintendent Colonel Roswell Lee. A fire at the main armory buildings on March 2, 1824, forced the church out, as the space was needed by the armory for other purposes. Services were held at various Springfield locations, including the Methodist church, the parish house of the First Church (Congregationalist), and the old court house. The Rev'd

Henry Washington Lee Henry Washington Lee (July 29, 1815 – September 26, 1874) was a 19th-century bishop in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. He served as the first Bishop of Iowa from 1854–1874. He also served as Provisional Bisho ...

, the son of Col. Lee, took charge of the congregation on October 28, 1838 and it was reorganized. Henry Lee went on to become the first Episcopal Bishop of Iowa in 1854. Property at the corner of State and Dwight Streets was acquired in 1839 and a new church was built there. Among the names of those parishioners contributing to the building of the new parish church were

Anna McNeill Whistler Anna Matilda (née McNeill) Whistler (September 27, 1804 – January 31, 1881) was the mother of American-born, British-based painter James McNeill Whistler, who made her the subject of his famous painting ''Arrangement in Grey and Black No ...

, wife of

George Washington Whistler George Washington Whistler (May 19, 1800 – April 7, 1849) was a prominent American civil engineer best known for building steam locomotives and railroads. He is credited with introducing the steam whistle to American locomotives. In 1842, Tsa ...

and mother of

James Abbott McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

, the famous painter. The Whistler family rented Pew No. 9. The new church was a rectangular building with a square turreted cupola. The building was enlarged in 1851 after then rector, Abram Newkirk Littlejohn recognized the need to expand. In addition to more seating, the project added a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

room and library. During the same time, a two-manual tracker-action organ (1833) by E and G.G. Hook was purchased from St. John's Church in Providence, RI, by the Ladies' Society for $687.50, with a promise for more. The Rev'd Littlejohn went on to become the first Bishop of Long Island, and in 1895, officiated at the wedding of Consuelo Vanderbilt and the 9th Duke of Marlborough at St. Thomas Church, New York City. The parish continued to grow and by the 1870s when it was determined a larger church was needed, and the present church was built at a new site on Chestnut Street that was acquired in 1874. Construction began the same year and the first service was held on May 21, 1876. A new Processional Cross and Office Lights (all still in use today) were designed by the famous

Henry Vaughan Henry Vaughan (17 April 1621 – 23 April 1695) was a Welsh metaphysical poet, author and translator writing in English, and a medical physician. His religious poetry appeared in ''Silex Scintillans'' in 1650, with a second part in 1655.''Oxfo ...

as early works by the now famous architect of the

Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and produced by the famous Gorham company. The tower of the new church cracked early on and had to be removed. It was rebuilt in 1927. The first convention of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts met at Christ Church on November 19, 1901. On February 7, 1929, Christ Church became the diocesan Cathedral. The Very Rev'd Dr. John M. McGann, who had been

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

up to that point, became the first Cathedral

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

References

{{reflist Religious organizations established in 1817 Churches completed in 1876 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Romanesque Revival church buildings in Massachusetts Episcopal church buildings in Massachusetts Episcopal cathedrals in Massachusetts Churches in Springfield, Massachusetts Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Springfield, Massachusetts

History

See also

References