Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption

The Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, also known simply as St. Mary’s Cathedral, is the Catholic cathedral in Trenton, New Jersey, United States. Along with the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine in Freehold, it is the seat of the Diocese of Trenton.HistoryThe Rev. Anthony Smith purchased the property on which St. Mary’s Cathedral now sits in 1865 from Dr. Jacob Quick. The location had been a part of the battlefield during the Battle of Trenton in the American Revolutionary War. A historical marker on the rectory identifies the location as the place where Hessian Commander Col. Johann Gottlieb Rall died on December 27, 1776.St. Mary's was the second Catholic parish established in Trenton after St. John's, which was located on the present site of Sacred Heart Church on South Broad Street. Ground was broken for the parish church on April 23, 1866, and it was dedicated on January 1, 1871 by Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley of Newark. The spire was completed by Joseph Trier, a Trenton contractor, in 1879. It was said to be the tallest church spire in the state at that time. The clock in the tower was built by the Seth Thomas Clock Company for the Paris Exposition of 1878 where it served as the official time piece.