Old Saint Mary's Cathedral
| Old Saint Mary's Cathedral | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Basic information | |
| Location |
660 California Street San Francisco, California |
| Geographic coordinates | 37°47′34″N 122°24′21″W / 37.79265°N 122.40575°WCoordinates: 37°47′34″N 122°24′21″W / 37.79265°N 122.40575°W |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic Church |
| Province | Archdiocese of San Francisco |
| Country | United States of America |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Proto-cathedral; parish |
| Leadership | Archbishop of San Francisco, Paulist Fathers |
| Website | www.oldsaintmarys.org |
| Direction of façade | South |
| Reference no. | 810 |
| Reference no. | 2 |
The Old Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception is a proto-cathedral and parish of the Roman Catholic Church located at 660 660 California Street at the corner of Grant Avenue in the Chinatown neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It was built in 1854 in the Gothic Revival style, and was made a Designated San Francisco Landmark on April 11, 1968.
Old Saint Mary's cornerstone was placed on Sunday, July 17, 1853 at the corner of California and Dupont Streets by the Bishop of Monterrey Joseph S. Alemany. With its dedication by Alemany, now as the new Archbishop of San Francisco, at Christmas Midnight Mass, 1854, it became the first cathedral of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. It is the first cathedral in California to be built for the express purpose of serving as a cathedral, although other churches in the state served as cathedrals before it was built. When it opened, it was the tallest building in San Francisco and all of California.
It was used from 1854 to 1891 as a cathedral and was replaced by the first Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, as the archdiocese was in need of a larger space for the growing number of Catholics in the area. In 1891, Old Saint Mary's became a parish church, still using the same name that it bore as a cathedral. The new St. Mary's Cathedral was located at Van Ness Avenue and O'Farrell Street.
Under the clock face of Old St. Mary's appear the words: "Son, Observe the Time and Fly from Evil" (Ecclesiasticus 4:23). This sentiment was aimed at the men who frequented the surrounding brothels in the 1850s.
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