Saint Joseph Old Cathedral

Saint Joseph Old Cathedral has been a part of Oklahoma City from the beginning. Saint Joseph was the first church of any denomination built in Oklahoma City. It was originally located on the ground where the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was constructed in 1977. In addition to housing the original Saint Joseph Cathedral, the complex included Saint Joseph School, the convent, rectory, Catholic Charities offices, the Bishop's office and even the original Saint Anthony Hospital which was established in 1898 on the southern part of the property. , On May 5, 1889, a few days after Oklahoma City was born, a tent was raised on the raw prairie to serve as a grocery store. Under this canvas canopy on California Street, Rev. Nicholas F. Scallan celebrated what is believed to be the first public Mass in Oklahoma City. Two weeks later Father Scallan organized a meeting to establish a new parish, announcing that it would be placed under the patronage of Saint Joseph. Approximately fifty-five Catholic heads of families lived in Oklahoma City as well as a number of young men “without other connections” who settled in the city and on nearby farms. Father Scallan, previously with the Catholic Indian Bureau, came to the Oklahoma Territory from Arizona to minister to the Catholics of Pursell and to the Ponca Indians. He was appointed pastor of Oklahoma City and missions by Right Reverend Ignatius Jean, O.S.B., the Prefect Apostolic of the Indian Territory. , On May 27, Lots 12, 13 and 14 of block 29 of the original township were purchased on the northeast corner of Fourth Street, between Robinson and Harvey, to be the site for the first Catholic Church in Oklahoma City. On July 1st, the men of the fledgling parish began construction of a twenty-four by sixty-foot frame structure on the top of Blue Hill, so-named because of its famous mantle of small blue flowers. A 650-pound bell, purchased for $101 and still in use, stood on a temporary scaffold until August 2, 1889, when it was hung in the new church belfry. The first Saint Joseph Church, with its sixty-three foot high steeple, was dedicated on August 4, 1889. , Saint Joseph Parish and its booming city grew rapidly. On January 21.1894, the church trustees met with Bishop Theopile Meerschaert, the Vicar Apostolic of Indian Territory and Reverend Ildephonse Lanslots, O.S.B., to discuss the future of the parish. The original frame building had become inadequate so the three lots where the present Joseph Church stands, were purchased for $750. Excavation for the present building began on October 19,1901 but actual construction did not begin until October 26, 1902. Although services were held in the basement of the church while the interior was completed, the building was officially dedicated by Bishop Meerschaert on December 18, 1904. It cost $40,000. Shortly thereafter the old church across the street was razed. When Bishop Meerschaert was named first bishop of Oklahoma on August 23, 1905, Saint Joseph Church became Saint Joseph Cathedral. , Monsignor Gustave Depreitere, pastor from 1920 to 1951, remodeled the interior of Saint Joseph Cathedral and installed beautiful marble altars imported from Europe. In 1924, Oklahoma's first bishop died and was buried from Saint Joseph Cathedral. Most Reverend Francis C Kelley became the second Bishop of Oklahoma. On November 24, 1930, the Diocese of Oklahoma was renamed the Diocese of Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Bishop Kelley designated Our Lady of Perpetual Help as the new cathedral at which time Saint Joseph Cathedral became the Old Cathedral. , Most Reverend Eugene J. McGuiness became the third Bishop of Oklahoma City and Tulsa. He served the diocese from 1949 to 1957. On March 8, 1958, Most Reverend Victor J. Reed became the fourth Bishop. In 1972, during the pastorate of Monsignor Raymond Harkin, Saint Joseph Old Cathedral was declared a U.S. Historic site, guaranteeing its historic standing in downtown Oklahoma City. A year later, under the direction of Most Reverend John R. Quinn, the Church of Oklahoma was divided into the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa. Bishop Quinn became the first Archbishop of Oklahoma City. While Monsignor A.A. Isenhart was pastor, renovations to Saint Joseph Old Cathedral continued. In 1977, Most Reverend Charles A. Salatka, who served unil 1992, was appointed the second Archbishop of Oklahoma City. , in the early days of Saint Joseph Church, a parish school was established and staffed by Sisters of Mercy with twenty-six pupils in grades one through twelve. The Sisters of Mercy came to the Oklahoma Territory from Lacon, Illinois, to conduct a school for Indian girls at Sacred Heart Mission. From Sacred Heart they came to Oklahoma City to staff Saint Joseph School which was adjacent to the original church. The school building, large enough to accommodate one hundred pupils, was a white, two-story frame structure of ten rooms and a library. In 1950 Saint Joseph High School was consolidated into a central Catholic high school. This new high school was later renamed Bishop McGuinness High School and is still located at 50th and North Western. In 1974 Saint Joseph Elementary School was closed and the Alfred P. Murrah Building was constructed on that site in 1977. , April 19, 1995. , The April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building resulted in extensive damage to Saint Joseph Old Cathedral. Stained glass windows and many other precious works of art were destroyed or damaged but the standing crucifix on the east wall (dated 1909) withstood the devastating blast, Lesser damage was sustained in the basement museum and its memorial artifacts. The rectory adjacent to the Old Cathedral had to be demolished following the bombing. , Under the direction of Most Reverend Eusebius J. Beltran, the third Archbishop of Oklahoma City and the guidance of Reverend Louis J. Lamb, the pastor, the old cathedral and the office and conference building underwent extensive interior and exterior restoration. A now rectory was built. The cost of the restoration project was $3 million. The restored Saint Joseph Old Cathedral complex was rededicated on December 1, 1996. , This is hallowed ground where people have been publicly worshipping the Lord in the last century and throughout this century. May people of good will continue to worship Him here into the new millennium and in heaven forever!