"Due to overcrowded conditions in St. Patrick's church and a desire for a new church to be more centrally located in the city of Columbus, in the summer of 1866 Rev. Edward M. Fitzgerald, then pastor of St. Patrick’s took steps in the construction of a new church.
Michael Harding was the architect that was requested to prepare plans and specifications for the church. Mr. Harding staked out the foundation on June 6, 1866 and John McCabe, the contractor began to work of excavating the site. John Stoddard was then contracted for the masonry work. The work continued on the foundation until November 11, 1866 when the first cornerstone was laid.
On February 28, 1867 Rt. Rev. Sylvester H. Rosecrans was transferred to Columbus St. Patrick Church as its pastor. March 3, 1868 Bishop Rosecrans was named First Bishop of Columbus. Bishop Rosecrans immediately went to work to finish St. Joseph’s. Mr. Robert T. Brookes was commissioned to succeed Mr. Harding as architect. Since the church was now to become a cathedral, a few changes were made in the construction plans. It was decide to construct the building of stone instead of brick. This necessitated a firmer and deeper foundation to be constructed. The old walls were torn down to build new ones in their place.
In tearing up the old foundation, the original cornerstone was removed or covered. There is no trace of its existence today. Newspaper accounts around this time stated a change, there was to be a 312 foot clock tower with three clock faces and a chime of ten bells to be located on the southwest corner. The south east tower of the cathedral was to reach a height of 200 feet. The main tower was never completed beyond where it stands today. The east tower never completed beyond the choir gallery level. Beneath the proposed bell tower would house the baptistery.
The cathedral building was designed Gothic in architecture and the outside finish was to be of boasted ashlar, the chiseling of the stone relieving the dead appearance of a yellow stone wall. This stone possesses the property of hardening by exposure to air, and was obtained principally from quarries in Licking and Fairfield counties. The dimensions of the building are 92 feet on Broad street and 185 feet on Fifth Street. The outside walls are 42 feet in height from the ground level and 34 feet from the floor line. The clearstory walls have an altitude of 70 feet from the ground and 62 feet from the floor. The main walls are 3 feet thick. The clearstory walls supported by arches, rest on clusters of Gothic columns, standing on dressed limestone pedestals. Stone crosses surmount the outside walls at intervals to give relief to the wall structure. The windows are cased in freestone obtained in Pickaway County. The brackets were cut from Columbus limestone and are said to be the only stone articles in the structure procured from Columbus.
The arching of the windows and the supports of the clearstory carry out the directions of General W.S. Rosecrans who, in the summer of 1870, spent time with his brother, the Right Rev. Bishop Rosecrans in ironing out certain details of the construction of the cathedral. The stained glass windows that depict various scenes of Saints, the Holy Family and various religious symbols were all donated.
General Rosecrans plans and ideas were carried out as close to original with few changes. From 1870 on, the completion of the building was under the supervision of Mr. Michael Fahey.
It was Christmas day in the year 1872, the cathedral was now ready to a point that services could be held within the structure. Bishop Rosecrans celebrated High mass for the first time in the new cathedral and was assisted by a number of priests of the city. Soon after the opening of the cathedral, a large and costly main altar was constructed. The marble was donated by Cardinal McCloskey, and came from the quarries in New York State. These were the same quarries that the marble was obtained to create the interior of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. The side altars of the cathedral were added soon afterward and were constructed of the same material.
The Cathedral interior still laid in an unfinished state. In May of 1878 a contract was awarded to John D. Clarke and Charles Nagel to erect scaffolding and finish the plastering of the interior of the Cathedral. Seeing the near completion of this grand Cathedral, Bishop Rosecrans decided to have a very special consecration performed on October 20, 1878.
In 1914 it was determined to remodel the Cathedral. The old cluster of iron columns were considered an obstruction and the walls were beginning to look dark. A new main altar and side altars were constructed. The wood altar railing gave way to a new marble one. The columns that hold up the clearstory section of the cathedral were replaced and new lighting was installed. The cost of the renovation was around $105,000."
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