Christ Church Cathedral (St. Louis)

The Christ Church Episcopal congregation, consisting of 26 people, was formed in 1819, four years before St. Louis was chartered as a city. The first Christ Church was constructed ten years later, at the corner of Third and Chestnut. A decade after that, the congregation moved to a church two blocks away, at Fifth and Chestnut. However, due to the rapid growth of the congregation in the middle of the 19th Century, the organization purchased land at the corner of 13th and Locust for a new, larger structure. Designs for a Gothic cathedral and cost estimates were requested of four distinguished architects: Leopold Eidlitz of New York, John Notman of Philadelphia, Calvin N. Otis of Buffalo and Richard Upjohn of New York. The design created by Eidlitz, a Prague-born architect trained in Vienna, was the one approved in July 1959, and construction was begun soon afterwards. However, the church's timing was poor, as within two years the Civil War began, so that men, materials and money suddenly became very scarce. Consequently, several features of the original design, such as a tower and rose window, had to be abandoned. The opening service was held on Christmas Day, 1867. The church became the cathedral of the Diocese of Missouri in 1888.

The church has been described as, "Fourteenth century Second Pointed or Early English Decorated, and the plan is cruciform, with shallow transepts and apsidal chancel." The original nave was 121-feet long. There are galleries in the north and south transepts. A new tower, designed by Kivas Tully, as well as large, steel-cast silver bells that were cast in a German foundry, were dedicated in 1912. The Bishop Tuttle Memorial Building, designed deliberately to harmonize with the design of the main church, was constructed in 1927-1928, and contains parish offices, a bookstore and a homeless shelter. The reredos behind the altar, carved between 1909 and 1911 from cream-colored stone, comprises 52 religious figures and biblical scenes. Its sections were shipped to the cathedral in 230 cases. The church was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994.

The original stained glass windows, executed by Owen Doremus of Montclair, New Jersey, were described in 1867 as "of the most gorgeous colors and truly artistic in design and workmanship." (Some replacement windows were added in the late 19th and early-to-mid 20th Centuries.) The church is a frequent venue for musical performances. The church organ, which contains over 5000 pipes, is a combination pipe and electronic organ of the Aeolian-Skinner type. The long-running Shepley Concert Series currently held at the church is described as, "Promoting aspiring and established musicians, artists and actors through concerts, exhibits and theater at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown St. Louis for over one hundred years."

http://www.christchurchcathedral.us/history http://stlcin.missouri.org/history/structdetail.cfm?Master_ID=1761 https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalregister/6120679617 http://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/mo/ChristChurch.pdf http://earthspot.org/?q=Christ_Church_Cathedral_%28St._Louis,_Missouri%29 http://cathedraltales.com/2015/02/25/120 http://www.stlouisorgans.com/index.php?p=2&i=20 http://www.christchurchconcerts.org