Baltimore?s religious and historical leaders gathered Friday tocelebrate the 200th birthday ? almost to the hour ? of the country?s first cathedral and to announce the discovery of the sacred building?s original cornerstone.
Amidst scaffolding, caution tape and piles of bricks, Friday?s procession mimicked one that took place July 7, 1806, when the nation?s first bishop placed a wooden cross where the cathedral?s alter would eventually stand. Construction crews are now working to renovate the historic church and expect to complete the $32 million project in November.
The work included an exhaustive search for the building?s original cornerstone, according to Mark Potter, executive director of the Basilica Historic Trust.
“Finding the cornerstone and being able to closely recreate the ceremony as it took place in 1806 is a singular honor and privilege,” Potter said. “There?s so much history contained within the basilica?s walls, and we?re well aware of our important role as the guardians of the legacy.”
Ellington Churchill, project manager for the cathedral?s restoration, said crews took about four months to find the cornerstone. He said contractors were confident the cornerstone faced the building?s north side, then its west side.
They were also looking for distinguishable characteristics, such as engravings or a plaque.
But the cornerstone ? a white stone slab among granite ? was on the building?s south side, and might feature a copper plate on its sky-facing side, covered by other bricks.
“The stone was found through the old tried and true method that they would have used 200 years ago,” Churchill said. “A plain old shovel.”
U.S. Capitol architect B. Henry Latrobe, regarded often as the father of architecture, designed the cathedral, which is now known as the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Dignitaries will officially celebrate the cathedral?s bicentennial and reopen it November 4.
