SAN FRANCISCO: Grace Cathedral marks centennial of cornerstone placement

January 27, 2010 [Grace Cathedral] With descendents of the second bishop of California, civic leaders and congregation members gathered for worship, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco marked the centennial of the laying of its cornerstone during its 11 a.m. Choral Eucharist on Jan. 24.

The cathedral feted the 100th anniversary of its incorporation in 2006 with a series of special services and events, including a visit from Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. However, many view the cornerstone centennial as equally significant.

"While our magnificent structure was the spotlight of the day, Christ, the cornerstone in our lives was honored throughout, and the church, those 'living stones' gathered in worship, were celebrated through prayers and readings," said Bishop Peter Lee, interim dean of Grace Cathedral.

The cornerstone was laid on Jan. 24, 1910, with the Rt. Rev. William F. Nichols, second bishop of California, presiding. On Sun., Jan. 24, 2010, three generations of his descendents attended the service.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom declared Jan. 24, 2010 Grace Cathedral Day in a proclamation presented to Lee by Mike Farrah, director of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services. Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, whose district includes Grace Cathedral and its surround Nob Hill neighborhood, also recognized the cathedral in a brief address during announcements. Both Farrah and Chiu also read the lessons.

On a rainy day Jan. 24, 1910, Nichols, along with California Governor Gillette, Lieutenant Governor Porter, former San Francisco Mayor Taylor, bishops Joseph Johnson (Los Angeles), William Moreland (Sacramento) and Sidney Partridge (Kyoto), William H. Crocker, and many notable San Franciscans, laid the cornerstone and a part of the base of the planned façade's east buttress.

The plot of land upon which Grace Cathedral was built was donated by the Crocker family after two of their homes were destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire. The laying of the cornerstone was not only integral to the cathedral's structural integrity, but it became a symbolic building block for the city of San Francisco as it re-emerged from the devastating natural disaster four years earlier.