Country United States Bishop(s) Rt. Rev. Paul Marshall Added to NRHP 21 April 1988 | Completed 1864, 1887 Phone +1 610-865-0727 Architect Edward Tuckerman Potter | |
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Location 321 Wyandotte St.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Denomination Episcopal Church in the United States of America Website www.nativitycathedral.org Address 321 Wyandotte St, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA Architectural style Gothic Revival architecture Diocese Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem Similar St Stephen's Episcopal, Hill to Hill Bridge, Zoellner Arts Center, Touchstone Theatre, Burnside Plantation Profiles | ||
The Cathedral Church of the Nativity is an Episcopal cathedral in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the seat of the Diocese of Bethlehem. In 1988 it was listed as a contributing property in the Fountain Hill Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
History
The first services of the Episcopal Church were occasionally celebrated in Bethlehem beginning in 1854. The following year they became more regular and were celebrated more frequently. From 1860 to 1862 lay leaders led worship in their homes. In 1863 construction began on the parish's first church building. It was completed the following year with the first services celebrated on Christmas Day. New York architect Edward Tuckerman Potter designed the church in the Gothic Revival style. A church school was also established in the North Pennsylvania Railroad station in 1864. St. Mary's Chapel was built in 1875 and St. Joseph Chapel in 1884. The present church took form when it was completed in 1887. Architect E.M. Burns incorporated the original building as a transept. The debt was paid off by the following year and it was consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Nelson Somerville Rulison. The vestry voted to allow the church to become a pro-cathedral in 1890 and ten years later it was raised to a cathedral.