1871 - 1904

1843 - 1871
1871 - 1904
1904 - 1939
1939 - 1979
1979 - present

Fire and Rebuilding:
Holy Name Parish builds a Cathedral
(1871-1904)

October 1871	In October 1871, Holy Name and St. Mary’s are destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire. Holy Name Pastor and Rector, Fr. John McMullen, finds all the parish buildings in flames upon his return to the campus from elsewhere in the city. He retrieves the Blessed Sacrament; all else is lost. Later that month, he visits New York and New England, seeking donations to help rebuild Holy Name and give relief to Chicago’s fire victims.
1871-74	Chicago Bishop Thomas Foley and Fr. McMullen criss-cross the country, raising funds for the reconstruction of churches, schools, hospitals and orphanages. Holy Name parishioners worship in a makeshift "shanty Cathedral," a boarded-up, burned-out house on Cass Street (now Wabash Avenue).
1874	Brooklyn Architect Patrick Charles Keely begins design work on the new Holy Name Cathedral. (Keely is credited with designing some 600 U.S. churches, including 16 cathedrals, in the latter part of the 19^th century as the U.S. Catholic population grew and dioceses multiplied.) The cornerstone is laid on July 19, 1874.
Nov. 21, 1875	The new Cathedral of the Holy Name is dedicated by Bishop Foley.
1880	Chicago is elevated to archdiocese status; Nashville Bishop Patrick Feehan, who oversaw a post-Civil War building boom in Tennessee, is named Chicago’s first archbishop. In 1881, Fr. McMullen, who had served as Chicago diocese administrator, is consecrated bishop and appointed to the newly created Davenport diocese.
1888	The first of several Cathedral renovations begins. The quick, post-fire construction has left Chicago with a cathedral literally "sagging" on its Superior Street side.
1903	James Edward Quigley, bishop of Buffalo, installed as Archbishop of Chicago.