Old St. Mary's Cathedral & Chinese Mission

History & Significance

Cathedral · Est. 1854 (cornerstone laid 1853, dedicated Christmas Midnight Mass 1854)

Old St. Mary's Cathedral, at 660 California Street in San Francisco's Chinatown, was the first cathedral built in California, dedicated at Christmas Midnight Mass in 1854 under Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany. It was constructed with granite cut in China and brick brought around Cape Horn, and served as the first cathedral of the Archdiocese of San Francisco until 1891, when it became a parish church. Gutted by fire after the 1906 earthquake, it was rebuilt within its surviving walls. Since 1901 the Paulist Fathers have served the parish, which opened the first Catholic Chinese mission in America in 1903 and merged with Holy Family Chinese Mission as one parish in 2013.

Gothic Revival (architects William Craine and Thomas England)

• •First cathedral built in California; first cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco (1854-1891)
• •Built with granite cut in China and brick brought around Cape Horn as ship ballast
• •Served by the Paulist Fathers (C.S.P.) since 1901; opened the first Catholic Chinese mission in the U.S. in 1903
• •Gutted by fire following the 1906 earthquake, leaving the exterior walls standing, then rebuilt
• •Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; California Historical Landmark No. 810 and San Francisco Designated Landmark No. 2