St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral

St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral is a Michigan historical marker in Sault Ste. Marie, Chippewa County, dedicated 1990.

Chippewa County · dedicated 1990 · 320 East Portage Avenue, Sault Ste. Marie

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In 1853 Pope Pius IX separated the Upper Peninsula from the Diocese of Detroit and established a vicariate apostolic. Reverend Frederic Baraga, a missionary from L’Anse, became vicar apostolic and made St. Mary’s Church his headquarters. In 1857 the vicariate became a diocese, Baraga was named “Bishop of the Sault,” and the log church known as St. Mary’s became a cathedral. With the onset of mining, settlements sprang up in the western Upper Peninsula. Faced with the task of serving these remote parishes, Bishop Baraga obtained the pope’s permission to move the seat of the diocese to Marquette. In May 1866 Baraga left St. Mary’s and the parish became the pro-cathedral parish. In 1881 the present Gothic Revival-style church, designed by Joseph Connolly of Toronto, was erected.

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Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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Marker data: Michigan History Center
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On the National Register nearby

St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral60 ft
Old Fort Brady270 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.