Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is an historic Roman Catholic church at Main and Grand Streets in Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey, United States.HistoryBy the middle of the 1820s, there were definite indications that the local Catholic population was expanding. Coupled with the tremendous growth of Paterson industries, there was an insistent demand for skilled millhands and other types of workers. By 1870, the U.S. Census reported that Irish immigrants constituted the dominant foreign-born population in the city. The majority of the Irish, along with other immigrant classes, lived in ramshackle tenement houses within almost walking distance of the great mills. Most conspicuously, the Irish clustered about Grand Street, and this area became known as the "Dublin" section of Paterson. It was there, among the Irish-Catholic immigrants, that Father William N. McNulty began his priestly duties.Two years after arriving in Paterson to take "...charge of the fortunes and spiritual welfare...." of the rapidly growing Catholic population, Father McNulty entered into negotiations with the powerful industrial corporation, the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures ("S.U.M."), and in 1865 purchased from it sixteen lots on the corner of Grand and Main streets thus ensuring the future of a more larger St. John's Church (later Cathedral of St. John the Baptist). The new enterprise seemed to infuse new vigor into the members of the congregation, and the full amount of the purchase money of the real estate ($10,000) was raised in two months. Preparations were made for the construction of the new church, New York architect P. C. Keely was retained in order to develop plans "for an edifice... unequalled in New Jersey.", and on September loth, 1865, the corner-stone was laid.