Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
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In 1902 Archimedes Russell was designing the new sanctuary and bell tower for the building now known as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Central New York. Then, it was simply St. Mary's Church in St. Mary's Circle -- St. John the Evangelist on North State Street was the cathedral for the diocese. (Continued below)
c1910 Postcard showing Cathedral interior One can imagine Russell standing in front of the church, glancing to the east to see the newly-completed County Court House that he and Melvin King had designed, his attention broken perhaps by horses and riders competing in one of the frequent races on Onondaga Street between St. Mary's Circle and Onondaga Circle. For nearly sixty years, St. Mary's had stood uncompleted. The parish had set the cornerstone in 1874, and in 1886 the nave, built of stone on a design of Michael J. O'Connor, was formally dedicated. But the debts had risen, the tower was unfinished and the constrained lot was too small for a formal sanctuary. It was undoubtedly for this reason that it was rejected as the cathedral in 1887. But in 1909, Russell's bell tower was completed, and the parish had purchased the La Concha Turkish bath, demolished it, and built a fine sanctuary of Russell's design. The following year, the cathedral was moved to St. Mary's which was consecrated as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Since then a Rectory by James G. Randall and a Baptistry by James D. Curtin have been added to the site. The Cathedral is restoring the magnificent stained glass windows thus upholding a tradition of long and careful development of the building.
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