The cathedral was dedicated and solemnly blessed, Bishop Wood officiating, on November 20, 1864 at the time the Civil War was in high gear.
http://cathedralphila.org/about/about-the-cathedral/#history
In 2016, under the current rector, The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, St. Bartholomew’s was designated a National Historic Landmark and continues to enjoy a good working relationship with the New York Landmarks Conservancy.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Archdiocese of New York and the seat of its Archbishop.
In 2008, rededication and celebration in honor of the reopening of the entire length of the Cathedral. Guests in the service include New York Senators Hillary R. Clinton and Charles E. Schumer, Cardinal Edward Egan, and firefighters who battled the 2001 fire. (http://www.stjohndivine.org/about/history)
The monumental task was launched in January, 1898, with Bishop Wigger turning the first spadeful of soil. Construction of the foundations, piers and basement walls soon began, and work progressed so rapidly that Bishop Wigger set June 11, 1899, as the date for the laying of the cornerstone. More than fifty thousand people lined the streets to observe the parade to the Cathedral site, where an excess of one hundred thousand had gathered to watch the cornerstone laying ceremony.
http://www.cathedralbasilica.org/history/History-03.htm#P19_4893
