Christ Church Cathedral (Hartford, Connecticut)

Christ Church
Christ Church
Christ Church Cathedral
	Christ Church
	41°46′6″N 72°40′27″W / 41.76833°N 72.67417°W
Location	955 Main Street, Hartford, Connecticut
Country	United States
Denomination	Episcopal Church
History
Founded	1795
Consecrated	December 23, 1829
Architecture
Architect(s)	Ithiel Town; Nathaniel Sheldon Wheaton (tower)
Style	Gothic Revival
Years built	1827-1829
Completed	1939 (tower)
Administration
District	North Central
Province	New England
Diocese	Connecticut
Clergy
Bishop	Jeffrey W. Mello
Priest	Jay Cooke
	Christ Church Cathedral
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
NRHP reference No.	83003558
Added to NRHP	December 29, 1983

Christ Church Cathedral is a historic church at 955 Main Street in Downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Built in the 1820s to a design by Ithiel Town, it is one of the earliest known examples of Gothic Revival architecture in the United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.^[2] It is the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, whose offices are next door at 45 Church Street. The cathedral reported 469 members in 2015 and 143 members in 2025. Plate and pledge income for the congregation in 2025 was $135,671 with average Sunday attendance (ASA) of 93.^[3] This was a relative decrease from ASA of 154 in 2015.^[4]

Architecture and history

Christ Church Cathedral stands in downtown Hartford at the southwest corner of Church and Main Streets, surrounded by large-scale commercial buildings. It is a basically rectangular brownstone structure, with a square tower centered at its eastern end. The main facade is divided into three sections by the tower, each of which has a doorway set in a two-story Gothic-arched recess, with a window above. The sides are five bays deep, with buttresses separating Gothic-arched windows, and brownstone finials at intervals along the roof line. The finial details are repeated at the top of the tower, which is surrounded by a low balustrade.^[5]

Anglican services have been held in Connecticut since 1702. The Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut was organized in 1785 by Samuel Seabury. This church was designed by New Haven architect Ithiel Town, who designed that city's Trinity Church. Primary construction of the edifice lasted from 1827 to 1829, with the tower (designed by Nathaniel Sheldon Wheaton, after traveling to see country churches in England) not completed until 1939. These two Town designs are the oldest known examples of Gothic Revival architecture in the United States.^[5] Later additions to the building include alterations designed by Henry Austin, George Keller, Frederick Withers, and Ralph Adams Cram. These were typically done with great care to enhance or complement Town's original design.^[5]

References

↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
↑ Contributions to the history of Christ church, Hartford, Volume 1 (Belknap & Warfield, 1895)
↑ "Explore Individual Parochial Report Trends". General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
↑ "Explore Individual Parochial Report Trends". General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
1 2 3 "NRHP nomination for Christ Church". National Park Service. Retrieved 2014-12-08.

External links

Christ Church Cathedral web site
Episcopal Church in Connecticut web site
Contributions to the history of Christ church, Hartford, Volume 1 (Belknap & Warfield, 1895)

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.

[2] Contributions to the history of Christ church, Hartford, Volume 1 (Belknap & Warfield, 1895)

[3] "Explore Individual Parochial Report Trends". General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Retrieved 17 October 2026.

[4] "Explore Individual Parochial Report Trends". General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Retrieved 16 October 2026.

[NRHP-5] 1 2 3 "NRHP nomination for Christ Church". National Park Service. Retrieved 2014-12-08.

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v t e National Register of Historic Places in Hartford, Connecticut
Historic districts	Allen Place–Lincoln Street Ann Street Asylum Avenue Bedford-Garden Streets Buckingham Square Capen-Clark Cedar Hill Cemetery Charter Oak Place Clay Hill Collins and Townley Streets Colt Armory Congress Street Department Store Downtown North Elm Street Fairfield Avenue Frog Hollow Goodwin Hotel Grandview Terrace Boulevard Hartford Golf Club High Street Imlay and Laurel Streets Jefferson-Seymour Laurel and Marshall Streets Lewis Street Block Little Hollywood Main Street No. 2 Nook Farm Oxford-Whitney Streets Parkside Parkville Pratt Street Prospect Avenue Sigourney Square Sisson-South Whitney South Green Trinity College Long Walk Upper Albany Watkinson School West Boulevard West End North West End South
Historic properties	777 Main Street Aetna Diner Ambassador Apartments Amos Bull House Apartment at 49–51 Spring Street Arthur G. Pomeroy House B.P.O. Elks Lodge Batterson Block Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Synagogue Bloomfield Avenue Meeting House Boce W. Barlow Jr. House Building at 136–138 Collins Street Building at 142 Collins Street Building at 83–85 Sigourney Street Bulkeley Bridge Bushnell Park Butler-McCook Homestead Calvin Day House Capewell Horse Nail Company Charter Oak Bank Building Cheney Building Chevry Lomday Mishnayes Synagogue Christ Church Cathedral Church of the Good Shepherd and Parish House Connecticut State Library Day House Day-Taylor House Dillon Building Dr. Frank T. Simpson House Elizabeth Park Engine Company 1 Fire Station Engine Company 15 Fire Station Engine Company 16 Fire Station Engine Company 2 Fire Station Engine Company 6 Fire Station Engine Company 9 Fire Station First Church of Christ and the Ancient Burying Ground First National Bank Building Footguard Hall Fourth Congregational Church Fuller Brush Company Factory Complex Hartford Club Hartford Electric Light Company Maple Avenue Sub-Station Hartford International University for Religion and Peace Hartford Special Machinery Company Complex Hartford Union Station Hotel America House at 140 and 144 Retreat Avenue House at 36 Forest Street Hyde-St. John House Isham-Terry House James B. Colt House James Pratt Funeral Service John and Isabella Hooker House Judd and Root Building Keney Tower Lucius Barbour House Lyman House M. Swift and Sons Company Mansuy and Smith Automobile Showroom Building Marietta Canty House Mather Homestead Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Municipal Building Myers and Gross Building Neiditz Building North-West School Northam Memorial Chapel and Gallup Memorial Gateway Old North Cemetery Perkins–Clark House Phoenix Life Insurance Company Building Royal Typewriter Company Building Saint Anthony Hall Second Church of Christ Southern New England Telephone Company Building Spencer House Spring Grove Cemetery St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church Stackpole, Moore, and Tryon Building State Arsenal and Armory Stone Bridge Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church Temple Beth Israel The Village Underwood Computing Machine Company Factory Union Baptist Church Vine Street Apartment Buildings Wadsworth Atheneum Washington Street School Webster Memorial Building Wethersfield Avenue Car Barn Widows' Home Wilfred X. Johnson House William L. Linke House William R. Cotter Federal Building Windsor Avenue Congregational Church
National Historic Landmark Districts	Coltsville
National Historic Landmarks	A. Everett Austin House Connecticut State Capitol Harriet Beecher Stowe House Henry Barnard House Mark Twain House Old State House
Former	Capitol Building
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Hartford, Connecticut, and List of National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	United States
Other	Yale LUX

Architecture and history

Further reading

See also

References

External links