Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption

History & Significance

Cathedral · Est. Original parish church dedicated January 1, 1871; present cathedral dedicated March 14, 1959

The Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in Trenton, New Jersey serves as the seat (mother church) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton. The original parish church, built on a site connected to the 1776 Battle of Trenton, was dedicated on January 1, 1871 by Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley of Newark, and became the cathedral when the Diocese of Trenton was erected by Pope Leo XIII in 1881. That church was destroyed by fire on March 14, 1956, a blaze that killed the rector Msgr. Richard T. Crean and two housekeepers; the present cathedral was rebuilt and dedicated by Bishop George W. Ahr on March 14, 1959.

Present cathedral (1959) is a modern interpretation of the Romanesque style, faced in Mount Airy granite

• •Seat (mother church) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, which was established by Pope Leo XIII on August 2, 1881
• •Original parish church dedicated January 1, 1871 by Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley of Newark
• •The site is linked to the 1776 Battle of Trenton, where Hessian commander Col. Johann Gottlieb Rall was mortally wounded
• •Destroyed by fire on March 14, 1956, killing rector Msgr. Richard T. Crean and two housekeepers
• •Present cathedral rebuilt and dedicated by Bishop George W. Ahr on March 14, 1959