Washington Cathedral

Photo ©Creative Commons.

At noon on September 29th, 1990, the last stone for the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, was raised and set on the Saint Paul Tower. The stone was a 1,008 pound piece of carved Indiana limestone, cut in Ellettsville, Indiana, at the Bybee Stone Company, where the final two front entrance towers had been fabricated.

Construction had begun on the Gothic-style cathedral, also known as the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, with the laying of its cornerstone at noon on September 29, 1907. On that occasion, according to Bishop Satterley’s diary—as reported by Richard T. Feller, Canon Clerk of the Works—President Theodore Roosevelt said, “I believe implicitly in the good that will be done by and through this cathedral. God-speed in the work begun this noon.”

The finalization of the National Cathedral spanned ten years’ work for Bybee Stone Company. Drafting Supervisor Pat Riley reported, upon its completion in 1990, that the job was unusual due to the fact that the Cathedral architects provided the shop drawings, patterns, and tickets. The Bybee drafting room handled only the sequencing of the tickets and special pieces in the project. “Nevertheless,” he said, “we considered it an honor to be a part of this historic endeavor.” He cited Bybee foremen, planermen and stonecutters for the project’s success.