Christ Church Cathedral is the
Episcopal cathedral for the
Diocese of Missouri. It is located at 1210 Locust Street in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. The dean of the cathedral is the Very Reverend Kathie Adams-Shepherd. Adams-Shepherd is also the first female dean of this cathedral. Built during 1859–67, it is one of the few well-preserved surviving works of
Leopold Eidlitz
Leopold Eidlitz (March 10, 1823, Prague, Bohemia – March 22, 1908, New York City) was a prominent New York architect best known for his work on the New York State Capitol (Albany, New York, 1876–1881), as well as " Iranistan" (1848), P. T. B ...
, a leading mid-19th-century American architect, and was designated a
national historic landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1994 for its architecture.
History and description
The cathedral was built between 1859 and 1867, and designed by architect
Leopold Eidlitz
Leopold Eidlitz (March 10, 1823, Prague, Bohemia – March 22, 1908, New York City) was a prominent New York architect best known for his work on the New York State Capitol (Albany, New York, 1876–1881), as well as " Iranistan" (1848), P. T. B ...
. The
Gothic Revival structure was an expression of the city's sense of its significance as the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
expanded westwards. It was one of the earliest churches influenced by the revival within the Episcopal Church of early Christian practices and styles, which later was influenced by the
Oxford Movement originating in England. It was designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1994.
The cathedral is located in what is now downtown St. Louis, at the southeast corner of Thirteenth and Locust Streets. The main body of the church was built of Illinois
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
, and its roof is of purple and green slate. It is basically a cruciform structure, with a tower projecting from the northern facade at the northwest corner. The base of the tower houses a baptistry, with a font of Italian marble.
A smaller sandstone chapel dates to 1893–95. From 1910 to 1912, a tower and porch were added of Indiana
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
.
The chime of three steel bells, dedicated in 1912, were cast by the
Bochumer Verein Foundry in 1904. The
bourdon bell, weighing 5,732 pounds, is the largest bell in Missouri. The cathedral originally housed an organ from the Roosevelt Organ Company; in 1926 the Skinner Organ Company installed a new organ.
Montana silver magnate Charles D. McLure, a St. Louis native, was revealed to be the anonymous donor of $50,000 toward constructing the cathedral (approximately $6.5 million today).
[An Ambassador of Christ: William Schuyler]
See also
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List of the Episcopal cathedrals of the United States
The following is a list of the Episcopal Church cathedrals in the United States and its territories. The dioceses are grouped into nine provinces, the first eight of which, for the most part, correspond to regions of the United States. Province ...
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List of cathedrals in the United States
This is a list of cathedrals in the United States, including both actual cathedrals (seats of bishops in Episcopal polity, episcopal Christian groups, such as Catholic Church, Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy and ...
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List of National Historic Landmarks in Missouri
The National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in the U.S. state of Missouri represent Missouri's history from the Lewis and Clark Expedition, through the American Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Space Age. There are 37 National Historic La ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Downtown and Downtown West St. Louis
References
External links
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{{Authority control
National Historic Landmarks in Missouri
Churches in St. Louis
Episcopal cathedrals in Missouri
Episcopal church buildings in Missouri
Churches completed in 1867
19th-century Episcopal church buildings
Landmarks of St. Louis
Historic American Buildings Survey in Missouri
National Register of Historic Places in St. Louis
Downtown West, St. Louis
1867 establishments in Missouri
Tourist attractions in St. Louis
Buildings and structures in St. Louis