ARCHITECT DR. GEORGE BARNETT IN EL PASO: THE 1916-1917 ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL
The St. Louis architectural firm of Barnett, Haynes and Barnett was made up of Thomas P. Barnett, John Ignatius Haynes, and senior member George Dennis Barnett. Renowned in the City of St. Louis, this firm was to them what Trost & Trost is to El Paso. The firm designed structures throughout the midwest, including the 1912 Adolphus Hotel in Dallas and the magnificent Palace of Liberal Arts at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. They were most known, however, for their work with the Catholic Church, and their most celebrated design is the 1912 Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis.
Senior member of the firm, Dr. Barnett, was retained in 1914 to design the as of yet unnamed Seat of the El Paso Diocese. Funding for the $150,000 Cathedral was raised over a period of time with creative and shrewd land sales, and interesting contests: one of which was to allow the first individual or group to raise $10,000 to name the Church. This honor was given to a group of Irish Catholic women who named the Cathedral "Cathedral Parish of Saint Patrick".
The reinforced concrete foundation for the Church was poured starting in 1914, well before the building permit was issued. The architects awarded the contract to builders Kroeger, Mayfield & Shaw, an El Paso firm that also built the Trost & Trost Alta Vista School, the Krakauer Zork & Moye Hardware building on San Fancisco, and most famously the Popular Dry Goods building downtown. The contractors secured the building permit on the 22nd of July, 1916, and work was expected to be started within 30 days. The cost of construction was to be $150,000, and by the time of completion the building was well within budget.
Construction started close to the end of August, 1916, and the building's cornerstone was laid on November 12 of the same year. The Dedication of the building took place on Thanksgiving morning 1917.
This past Saturday we were able to visit the Cathedral and take some new pictures - a joy to photograph.
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Text, research and modern photography provided to Sketchclub.net by Mark Stone, citing newspapers.com and prior research from the Trost Society's Dr. Max Grossman.
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Newspaper clipping of architect's drawing from the El Paso Times, 07/23/1916, page 15 via newspapers.com |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 03/20/2021 |
