From the Christ Church Cathedral web site:
"1837: A lot on the Circle is purchased for building a church, for which $800 is raised in two days.
1838: Cornerstone is laid for the new church (May 7).
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Fall: In the midst of a national financial panic, The Rev. James B. Britton, rector, goes begging for money to construct the church building. He gets $600, a Communion set, a surplice and articles for sale. |
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Fall: The Ladies’ Missionary Sewing Society, recently formed, holds a sale that yields $300 for the construction of the church. |
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First service is celebrated in the new church, a gothic wooden design, with a gallery holding an organ and seats for 50; and pews for 300 below. It has a furnace below the floor, the first in Indianapolis. |
1839: Christ Church Ladies holds a fair, the proceeds going toward a bell.
1850: A new organ is ordered from Schwaub of Cincinnati for $600. Christ Church Ladies hold a fair (by now an annual event); the proceeds go toward “refreshing church property”.
1855: Ladies’ Sewing Circle gives $659 toward building a rectory.
1856: Building committee is appointed for the new church. William Tinsley, Irish architect, presents drawings.
1857: Christ Church Ladies has a Strawberry Festival, a Christmas bazaar and an oyster supper, proceeds of which go to the new church. Original frame church is sold to Bethel AME Church and moved to the north side of Georgia St. June 24: Cornerstone is laid for the new building, almost 20 years after the church’s founding.
1858: During the construction of the new church, congregation worships in the House of Representatives and in Temperance Hall.
1859: Final cost of the new church building is $32,438. First service is held in the new building (May 22).
1860: A set of bells is installed in the church tower.
1863: Another Strawberry Festival, becoming a successful yearly event, is organized by the church women as a benefit for the church.
1864: Another Strawberry Festival is held, now a yearly event. Admission of 25 cents is charged.
1866: A gallery is built on the west wall of the church for choir and organ. The Sunday School donates a cathedra for the Bishop and presbyter.
1867: The Strawberry Festival is now extended to two evenings.
1869: The Church spire is completed at a cost of $1,425, paid entirely by Sunday School.
1871: The vestry borrows $709.56 from the Ladies' Sewing Society to renovate the church.
1873: A new organ is ordered from Marshall Brothers of Milwaukee, but a national financial panic strikes; the church cannot pay for it and asks to be released from the contract.
1876: A brick Sunday School building, financed by the Ladies' Sewing Guild, is completed. Financial difficulties necessitate the reinstitution of pew rents.
1883: The organ is moved from the gallery; the gallery is removed.
1895: A new organ is bought for $2,125 from Hook and Hastings Company. The old one is given to Holy Innocents.
1900: Improvements to the building are completed at a cost of $32,292.75.
1915: Roof is repaired, and the Parish house is redecorated by the redoubtable Ladies' Sewing Guild.
1926: A new Casavant organ is dedicated. The old one is given to Trinity Church, Bloomington.
1927: A basement is dug for Parish activities at a cost of $75,000.
1936: Cushions and kneelers are rejuvenated; new Choir vestments are purchased. The pulpit is moved southward and elevated.
1953: A new Moller organ is purchased for $48,000, replacing the old Casavant, which is sold to Meridian Heights Presbyterian Church.
1954: The interior of the church is renovated at a cost of almost $300,000.
1960: The Episcopal Cathedral House is purchased on North East Street.
1961: The Cathedral House moves to 820 N. Broadway.
1966: Cathedral Women hold first annual Strawberry Festival. The deanery is sold and replaced by a smaller residence on Hampton Drive.
1973: The Nave and sanctuary are repainted; pews are refinished; a new carpet and sound system are installed. Lighting fixtures are rebuilt; the bells in the tower are restored, and the Parish Hall is refurbished.
1974: Refurbishing continues, with the addition of a sprinkler system, replacement and cleaning of kneelers.
1975: The organist strongly urges replacement of the Cathedral organ. Communicants number 600; pledges continue to rise.
1979: The air-conditioning and heating systems are renovated, and the stained-glass windows are restored.
1981: Change ringing is now possible with eight of the nine bells in the tower as a result of rearranging the ropes.
1983: The Nave and Parish Hall are renovated. Work begins on a new underground addition to the Cathedral, which will add 5,500 square feet of space under Monument Circle.
1985: The expansion is completed, and consecrated, with Indianapolis mayor and ecumenical representatives in attendance at the service. The new large reception/all-purpose room is called the Lilly Room, in honor of Ruth and Eli Lilly, whose portraits were commissioned for it. The Margaret Ridgely Memorial Library is moved to the new addition, as is a new choir rehearsal room, office and library. One new classroom is in the addition, along with more storage space. A new grand piano is donated for the choir room by a parishioner; glass in the Lilly room is a memorial to a young man of the Cathedral family. Expanded office space is now available.
1986: Parish confirms Vestry decision to make major renovations in the Nave and sanctuary, including the commissioning of two tracker organs.
1990: Chancel Organ, Op. 32 of Hellmuth Wolff and Associates of Quebec, Canada, is dedicated.
1992: The Gallery is added and the Gallery Organ, Op. 19 of Taylor & Boody of Virginia, is dedicated.
1994: Growing volunteer involvement puts pressures on the building to house activities. Planning begins for major renovation of the Parish Hall and Undercroft to expand classrooms
1996: The Frederick E. Weber Memorial Continuo Positive Organ, Op. 36d of John Brombaugh & Associates of Oregon, is dedicated.
2000: Renovation completed.