St Josephs Cathedral is one of the oldest Roman Catholic Churches In Buffalo NY. It was built in 1851 out of limestone from a quarry in Lockport. The Erie canal barge would go behind the church and this is how the large gray stones were transported to build such a large structure. The design was established threw NYC architect Patrick C. Keeley. Up until 1912 it served as the Bishops church until the New Saint Joseph's Cathedral was built which was demolished in 1977 and again the old St. Josephs Cathedral remained the main diocese in Buffalo. Above the altar is 3 panels of stained glass each one depicts Incarnation, Redemption and Resurrection, which were gifts to Buffalo's Bishop Timon from Ludwig, King of Bavaria.

Also the Cathedral is well known for its Centennial Organ which was installed in 1877. In 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, and stood in the East Gallery of the Main Exhibition Hall. It won first prize as it was played and because of its sound it was added into the dictionary of organs. Once it was installed into the cathedral it has served for over 120 years and over 50000 liturgies. In 1999 the organ needed to be restored a team from MA dismantled it and 2 years later reinstalled it at the Cathedral and today it works as if it were installed in 1977.

Now lets talk about the steeple and its bells. In 1866 Bishop Timon (First Bishop Of Buffalo NY) had a 43 bell carillon created from a company in France. This clarion was the 3rd largest in the world and was even displayed in 1867 in the Paris Exhibition which it received a Gold Medal. Unfortunately the Bishop perished and did not get to hear the Clarion in 1867. Perhaps his restless spirit roams the cathedral because of this reason! The Clarion was installed into the Cathedral in 1870 however since the bells were to large for the tower they did not work. After a half of century they were moved and installed into the New St. Joseph's Cathedral which finally all of Buffalo were able to hear. But unfortunately the Bells broke because the reverberations were to much for the structure.

Also along with this church is the Cathedral Garden, a little court yard, a smaller chapel attached to the back of the cathedral and the very large Diocese building which is very elegant looking. This also was a very European looking structure. The church even has a separate building that has a variety of activities for children, adults, bible study, and other community activities. 

Now we get onto the part of is this church haunted? Indeed!! There are ghost on the property particularly a boy and my son may have even talked to one of the Bishop entities as one of them told him he was scared and glad to see us. The ghost here are very friendly and you can feel them around you. But capturing them is no easy task. As they prefer to stay behind you and never will they go to the front of the church. Some of the ghost that are here I believe have a lot to do with the nearby police department as the departed is next door. It really is a pretty church with a lot of history. It has suffered the sad times, happy joyous times, war, deaths of soldiers and so much more. With such a history is it not certain that a ghost or two goes with it? We took some nice photos here but again we did not get selfish or greedy just a few shots to capture your attention and make you think about this old medieval looking church.

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Rick-AngelOfThyNight