St. Michael's Episcopal Cathedral, Episcopal cathedral in downtown Boise, Idaho, US
St. Michael's Episcopal Cathedral is a Gothic Revival church built of Boise sandstone, designed by Henry Martyn Congdon with John E. Tourtellotte as supervising architect. Its interior has hammerbeam roof trusses, and the main facade holds the 1945 Window of the Archangels rose window. The corner tower was finished in 1949, the transept added in 1976, and the spire in 1980.
Episcopal services began in Boise in August 1864, when the Rev. Saint Michael Fackler organized St. Michael's Church; its first building, later renamed Christ Chapel, went up two years later and still stands at Boise State University. Construction of the present cathedral started on September 7, 1899, and the debt was paid off so that it was consecrated on May 25, 1902. The Bishop Daniel S. Tuttle House was attached to the church in 1907, and the building was listed on the National Register in 1976 as part of the Boise Capitol Area District.
The parish founded St. Margaret's Hall, a girls' school, in 1892; during the Great Depression Bishop Middleton Barnwell turned it into Boise Junior College in 1932, and it became independent in 1934 as today's Boise State University. St. Luke's Hospital was founded six months after the cathedral's dedication. The name Michael comes from the Rev. Saint Michael Fackler, who organized the church in 1864.
The cathedral stands at the corner of North 8th and West State streets, across from the Idaho State Capitol in the Boise Capitol Area District. Enter from the main facade on 8th Street; the Bishop Daniel S. Tuttle House of 1907 is attached to the church. Look up inside for the hammerbeam roof trusses and, in the east transept, the Tiffany window made around 1918.
The east transept holds a Tiffany window made around 1918, while the rose window on the main facade, called the Window of the Archangels, was only installed in 1945. The transept itself was added in 1976, and the spire on the tower followed in 1980.
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