Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

Description

St. Mary’s Parish Church located at what is now the corner of 15th and Stout streets was the first Catholic Church in Denver. Father Joseph P. Machebeuf celebrated the first Mass on Christmas eve of 1860. In 1868, Father Machebeuf was appointed as bishop of Colorado and St. Mary’s became the Cathedral.

In 1890, Bishop Nicholas C. Matz built a brick and sandstone building at 1842 Logan Street. Its four floors were used as the Cathedral school and the basement was the pro-Cathedral or temporary Cathedral. John K. Mullen, John F. Campion, J.J. Brown and Dennis Sheedy paid for eight lots for the permanent Cathedral. In 1902, ground was broken for the new Cathedral. Work came to a halt due to a lack of funds caused by questionable investments made by the procathedral rector, Fr. Michael Callahan. In 1905, an energetic assistant, Hugh L. McMenamin or Father Mac, came to the Cathedral and organized fund raising efforts for the work to continue. The cornerstone was laid in 1906 and Father Mac was appointed rector of the Cathedral on July 26, 1908.

The twin 210 foot spires were capped in 1911. The exterior of the structure is made up of limestone from Indiana and granite from Gunnison, Colorado. The altar, statuary, and bishop’s chair are all made of marble imported from Carrara, Italy. The seventy-five stained glass windows came from the F.X. Zetter’s Royal Bavarian Institute of Munich. With the structure virtually complete, a bolt of lightning struck the west tower on August 7, 1912 and knocked off the top twenty five feet. The spire was repaired before the dedication. The total cost to build the Cathedral was approximately $500,000.