2003: St. James Cathedral

Everyone was eager that chilly afternoon in November of 1905, when Bishop Edward O'Dea presided over the Cornerstone Ceremony for his new Cathedral.

Just two years earlier, O'Dea had come to Seattle and purchased a city block on Seattle's First Hill to build a Cathedral to "surpass anything in the West." He had engaged the architectural firm of Heins and La Farge from New York in 1904 to design an immense structure in neo-Italian Renaissance style. From that humble beginning of the first stone rose a magnificent structure with twin towers rising 167 feet into the air, a breathtaking bronze dome as its centerpiece. St. James Cathedral was completed two years later, and solemnly dedicated on December 22, 1907.

For nearly a century, the great church has stood watch over the vibrant city of Seattle. Little changed in its first eight years, until the winter of 1916. On February 12th, a severe winter storm brought two feet of heavy wet snow, adding to the weight of the huge dome above the center of the Cathedral. The wooden timbers, already straining under the weight of the dome, gave way at 3:15 PM and 400 tons of masonry fell 80 feet to the floor below. Thankfully, no one was in the church at the time due to the inclement weather, yet "every window was shattered, heavy pews hurled against the walls, and a huge gaping hole in the roof left the Cathedral exposed to the elements."

A year later, Bishop O'Dea was again presiding over a grand reopening, having set immediately upon reconstruction and levying an assessment of all the parishes of the Diocese to repair the damage. In March, 1917 the Cathedral was again open to its Catholic congregation (although without the great dome). St. James was to go through two additional renovations, once in 1950 in honor of the centenary of the Diocese, and again in 1994 when among other changes the altar was moved to the center of the Cathedral. With the latter, the beauty of natural light was added to this sacred space with the addition of an oculus Dei (eye of God) glass opening in place of the original dome.

To find oneself at the threshold of St. James Cathedral is like a feast for the artist, a sanctuary for the creative soul. Its design, magnificent in its structure, was inspired by fourteenth century Italian Renaissance architecture. Artistic highlights include an extensive collection of stained glass, a remarkable 15th-century painting of the Madonna and Child with Saints (attributed to Florentine Neri di Bicci, ca 1471), and its grand Ceremonial Bronze Doors. These doors tell of the great progression of the human family toward the heavenly city; a "great progression" whose symbolism, nearly a century later, endures with the history and spirit of its beautiful home.

-Brad Harris, Writer (2003)