Harold Whitehouse, renowned for his cathedrals in other western cities, designed the Cathedral, for which the cornerstone was laid on September 10, 1931 and, $90,000 later, was consecrated on Easter, March 27, 1932. Not particularly large or extravagant as Cathedrals go, it is, nonetheless an attractive building, faced with rough cut native granite. Considering that the Cathedral was built and paid for at the beginning of the "Great Depression", it was quite a feat for the diocese to have built any sort of Cathedral at that time.
The long, narrow sanctuary has transepts extending from each side, a larger one to the north and a smaller one to the south. Down each side of the sanctuary are Gothic arched windows, each filled with beautiful stained glass, and each one dedicated to a past parishioner or a past Rector. The gabled roof is supported with a series of cross braced trusses fastened together with flat iron or steel brackets. On the walls at the front and side of the chancel are two groupings of pipes for a small pipe organ while, at the other end of the sanctuary is a larger grouping of tuned pipes which extend horizontally from the wall over the entrance. These pipes appear to be made of copper and are of a type and style we've not seen before. Very interesting!
To the south of the entrance and set back a bit from the front of the sanctuary is an open bell tower of the thin "two dimensional" type of old. Within is the bell from the original 1879 Cathedral while atop is a slender octagonal spire clad in what appears to be copper. Around the base of the spire is a metal railing with an intricate design and a heavy post at each of the eight corners, each post having a finial-like protrusion extending outward at a 90° angle from near its top. Both the cathedral and the bell tower are, intentionally we assume, reminiscent of English country churches of yore.
ST. PETER'S CATHEDRAL
Helena was a raucous gold-mining town when Bishop Daniel Sylvester Tuttle and The Rev. E. N. Goddard held their first Sunday services on August 11, 1867. Sunday streets were crowded with men and teams. Auctioneers were selling wares, hurdy-gurdy houses were thronged and more than one hundred businesses were open. Sunday was not the Lord's Day! It was a day for miners to come to town, stock up on supplies and relax.
On a subsequent visit, Bishop Tuttle formed a Bishop's committee to create an Episcopal mission in Helena. He launched this effort by celebrating Holy Eucharist at the courthouse on March 28, 1869. Later that year, he paid $1,200 for property on which to build a church. At the intersection of Warren and Grand Streets, a stone church complete with a bell tower was soon finished for the price of $12,000. The original bell and brass altar rail still grace our church today. You can find a painting of that first building in the stairway at the back of the church. Holy Eucharist was first celebrated there on October 19, 1879, and the building was consecrated on November 11, 1881.
In 1927, The Rev. Henry Daniels began a capital campaign for a new and larger church. The present land on Park Avenue was purchased in 1930. Bishop William F. Faber laid the cornerstone on September 10, 1931. Harold Whitehouse, who also built Episcopal churches in Missoula, Butte, and the lovely cathedral in Spokane, was the architect. The cost was $90,000 - a huge sum and an act of faith for the parish during the Great Depression. Bishop Faber dedicated the new church on Easter, March 27, 1932 and designated it the pro-cathedral of the diocese. Father Daniels became the first of seven deans of the cathedral (the Very Rev. Charles Wilson, The Very Rev. Raymond D. Brown, the Very Rev. Jim Reeves, the Very Rev. Arch Hewitt, the Very Rev. Stephen Brehe, and the Very Rev. Heidi Kinner) until it reverted to parish status in the mid-1990's. In November 2004, St. Peter's was once again dedicated the cathedral church of the diocese. In 1941, the church built a deanery for Dean Wilson and his family, which now serves as the Diocesan Offices. An educational building was added in 1959 and later named Wilson Hall in honor of Dean Wilson's 26 years of service.
From St. Peter's