St. Paul's Episcopal Church

About this property

St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, is located in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It is the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as St. Paul's Episcopal Church. The cathedral reported 366 members in 2023; no membership statistics were reported in 2024 parochial reports. Plate and pledge income for the congregation in 2024 was $248,192 with average Sunday attendance (ASA) of 108. St. Paul's had its beginnings on October 15, 1854, when the first service was held at Fort Des Moines for ten communicants. A brick and frame church building was completed in 1857 on Seventh Street between Locust and Walnut Streets. Before its completion, services were held in the old Polk County Courthouse. By 1870 the congregation decided to replace its church building and purchased the current site. It would be another 13 years before construction began on the new church. The present church building was completed in 1885, and the first service was held at Easter. It was designed by Des Moines architect William Foster of the architectural firm of Foster & Liebbe in the Gothic Revival style. Foster had studied architecture as an apprentice under Richard Upjohn, an early proponent of the use of Gothic Revival. Apparently, the parish vestry served as the contractor during construction and sub-contracted the work. Regan and McGorrish were responsible for the masonry work and a Mr. Wright was responsible for the carpentry work. Its basement was not exposed as it is now because Ninth and High Streets were lowered at a later date. Originally the church had a wooden steeple, but it was destroyed in a storm in the 1930s. It was replaced in the 1960s by a structure with a steel core. Later the tower was strengthened when the 25-bell carillon was added. A kitchen was added below the sanctuary in 1939. That work was designed by Brooks and Borg Architects of Des Moines. The Rambusch Company redecorated the chancel in the 1940s and the current reredos was added at that time. In 1950 the parish's rector, the Rev. Gordon V. Smith, was elected the sixth Bishop of Iowa. The parish house was built in 1952. The building was designed by Brooks Borg Architects and Engineers of Des Moines. It was built by Arthur H. Neumann and Brothers, Inc. The new addition created space for classrooms, clergy and staff offices, the Guild Hall, and a chapel. The Rev. S. Suzanne Peterson was ordained a deacon at St. Paul's on December 18, 1976. She was the first woman ordained in the Diocese of Iowa. A $1.4 million renovation was undertaken in the 1980s when the congregation decided to remain downtown. William Dikis was the architect for the project. Further renovations were undertaken to the chancel area when St. Paul's was made the cathedral of the diocese. The cathedra (Bishop's chair), hand carved by a local artist, was installed in 1993, as was the current pipe organ. The new organ, Opus 3719, was built by Casavant Frères, Ltd of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. The St. Sacrament Chapel was added at this time, reusing the original tabernacle, and providing accessibility for communicants with mobility challenges.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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