# First Cathedral of Saint Paul (Minnesota)

The Chapel of Saint Paul, which later served as the first Cathedral of Saint Paul, was a log chapel built on the bluffs of the Mississippi River in 1841 by Lucien Galtier. It served as the first cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Saint Paul from June 1851 to December 1851. It was also used as a school until it was eventually dismantled. While the building only stood for around two decades, it left a lasting impact as the eponym of the capital city of Minnesota, Saint Paul.

## History

In 1840, Catholic missionary Father Lucien Galtier was sent by Bishop Mathias Loras of Dubuque to minister to the French Canadians in Minnesota. Galtier built two log chapels; one named after Saint Peter he built in Mendota. Seeking a suitable spot for another chapel on the other side of the river, Galtier looked at several claims offered to him but found them unsuitable; one was so low to the river that Galtier quipped "the idea of having the church swept down to St. Louis one day" did not please him. He looked for a location that was protected from the elements but still close enough to the river that steamboats could land and communication with other settlers along the river was possible. The location decided upon was the bluff above the "Pig's Eye" riverboat landing downriver from Fort Snelling, consisting of portions of property owned by nearby farmers Benjamin Gervais and Vital Guerin.$^{:43}$ Galtier began to call the location after Saint Paul, as Sts. Peter and Paul are often paired.$^{:111}$ The name Saint Paul was then first used in official records at the marriage of Vital and Adele Guerin on January 26, 1841.
The south-facing chapel, dedicated to the Apostle Paul, was built in October 1841 using red and white oak logs secured by wooden pins. Bark-covered slabs created the roof of the 20-foot (6.1 m) by 18-foot (5.5 m) building.$^{:43}$ It cost around $65 ($2,457 in 2024) to build. Dedicated on November 1, 1841, the chapel was the first house of worship to be erected within the current city limits, with its cemetery being approximately at the present corner of Third and Minnesota streets.$^{:43–44}$ Galtier remarked that the chapel called to mind the "stable of Bethlehem". Father Augustin Ravoux later enlarged the structure in 1847, adding another eighteen feet.$^{:43–44}$ In the winter of 1847/1848, a bell from the steamship Argo, which had sunk north of Winona, was presented to Ravoux by Henry M. Rice and hung in a belfry beside the chapel. Prior to the establishment of a more formal cemetery in 1849, eleven people were buried about the grounds of the chapel.$^{:500}$
While it is said that the area had up until that point been referred to as "Pig's Eye" or "Pig's Eye Landing" after the tavern of settler Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant, the landing by the chapel gradually became known as "Saint Paul's Landing". Through this the name of the chapel gradually was applied to the entire settlement, which would become the City of Saint Paul.
When Joseph Crétin was appointed as the bishop of the newly established Diocese of St. Paul in July 1851, the log chapel became the first cathedral.$^{:43–44}$ Dismayed at the size of the building, Crétin said the chapel was "worse than a stable" and began construction on a new building.$^{:48}$ The chapel would only serve in the role of cathedral for a few months, as the larger, second cathedral took its place in December 1851.$^{:77}$ It continued to be used for religious purposes, having begun to be used as a Sisters of St. Joseph school in November 1851.$^{:243}$ While originally only in the vestry, school enrollment rapidly climbed such that the whole building was used by April 1852. By the summer of 1852, a new brick school was built and the chapel went back to being used for worship as the sister's chapel.$^{:244}$
The final years of the chapel are unclear. One account gives a dismantling date of 1856, while another says that it was used as a convent chapel until 1864. One account says that the logs were brought to the site of Saint Joseph's Academy, where they were used in the construction of the school, or simply used for firewood by the workers. The writings of Lucien Galtier in 1874 indicate that the logs were safely stored to one day rebuild and preserve the chapel.$^{:48}$ Undisputed is that two gavels were made from the logs; one was given to the cathedral parish, and the other to the Minnesota Historical Society.$^{:244}$$^{:48}$

## Legacy

Several monuments mark the former location of the chapel at Kellogg Mall Park. Bronze plaques commemorating the chapel and Lucien Galtier are embedded in a large rock.$^{:48}$ Metal sculptures of a chapel, bell tower, and an axe-head commemorating the construction of the cathedral are also present in the park; these sculptures were dedicated on November 1, 1991. A replica of the chapel exists in the present cathedral's museum. One of the gavels constructed from the logs, on loan from the Minnesota Historical Society, was used by Archbishop Bernard Hebda to ceremonially knock on the present cathedral doors at his installation as archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in 2016.