St. Matthew's 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

Laramie, Wyoming Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was estimated 32,711 in 2019, making it the third-largest city in Wyoming after Cheyenne and Casper. Located on the Laramie River in southeast ...

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 ...

. It is the seat of the Diocese of Wyoming. The cathedral is a contributing property in the St. Matthew's Cathedral Close, a 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 ...

History

St. Matthew's was established in 1868. The Rt. Rev.

Ethelbert Talbot Ethelbert Talbot (October 9, 1848 – February 27, 1928) was the fifteenth presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. He is credited with inspiring Pierre de Coubertin to coin the phrase, "The important thing in the Olympic Games is not so much th ...

, the first bishop of the newly created Missionary District of Wyoming and Idaho chose Laramie as his

See city See or SEE may refer to: * Sight - seeing Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Television * ...

. He then led the effort to build St. Matthew's Cathedral from 1892 to 1896. The cathedral

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

was laid on September 21, 1892 and it was dedicated on December 17, 1896. The church was consecrated on August 11, 1901. The 1967 General Convention of the Episcopal Church created the Diocese of Wyoming. The first diocesan convention was held at St. Matthew's on January 30, 1968. The Diocese of Wyoming is contiguous with the state of Wyoming. The cathedral is a part of the St. Matthew's Cathedral Close historic district placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The other elements in the district include the Deanery, Hunter Hall (formerly known as Sherwood Hall), and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Memorial Cross.

Architecture

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

architect

William Halsey Wood William Halsey Wood (April 24, 1855 – March 13, 1897) was an American architect. Early life Wood was the youngest of four sons born to Daniel Halsey Wood and Hannah Lippincott Wood. Shortly after his birth in 1855, the family relocated from ...

designed St. Matthew's Cathedral in the Gothic Revival style. The structure is built of native

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 ...

that was quarried nine miles northeast of Laramie. The church building is cruciform is shape with the bell tower and

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...

above the main entrance. The cross at the top of the spire is feet above the ground and feet above sea level, which makes St. Matthew's the highest cathedral in the United States. There are 11 bells in the tower that were cast by Meneely & Co., of

Watervliet, New York Watervliet ( or ) is a city in Albany County, in the U.S. state of New York. The population was 10,375 as of the 2020 census. Watervliet is north of Albany, the capital of the state, and is bordered on the north, west, and south by the to ...

. The clock on the tower was made by the E. Howard Clock Co. of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Several artists created the cathedrals stained-glass windows. They include

Heaton, Butler and Bayne Heaton, Butler and Bayne were an English firm who produced stained-glass windows from 1862 to 1953. History Clement Heaton (1824–82) Fleming, John & Hugh Honour. (1977) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts. '' London: Allen Lane, p. 371 ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and New York City,

Charles Connick Charles Jay Connick (1875–1945) was a prominent American painter, muralist, and designer best known for his work in stained glass in the Gothic Revival style. Born in Springboro, Pennsylvania, Connick eventually settled in the Boston area where ...

of Boston, and Rowan and Irene LeCompte of New York and

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, ...

Organ

The pipe organ was installed by the

E.M. Skinner Ernest Martin Skinner (January 15, 1866 – November 26/27, 1960) was an American pipe organ builder. His electro-pneumatic switching systems advanced the technology of organ building in the first part of the 20th century. Biography Skinner ...

Organ Co. in 1925, Opus 523. It features four manuals, 51 ranks, and 3,111 pipes. The console was replaced in 1998 by a 1928 Casavant console, from Opus 1275, rebuilt by Morel & Associates.

References

External links

Cathedral websiteDiocese of Wyoming websiteSt. Matthews Cathedral Close
at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Matthew's Cathedral, Laramie, Wyoming Religious organizations established in 1868 Churches completed in 1896 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Gothic Revival church buildings in Wyoming Episcopal churches in Wyoming Matthew, Laramie Buildings and structures in Laramie, Wyoming Historic district contributing properties in Wyoming Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming Tourist attractions in Laramie, Wyoming Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming National Register of Historic Places in Albany County, Wyoming Cathedrals in Wyoming

History

Architecture

Organ

See also

References

External links