GPS City GuideBurlingtonCathedral Church of St. Paul

Stop 32 of 33 · Burlington audio walking tour

Cathedral Church of St. Paul

Burlington · 1830 · Founding of St. Paul's

What you'll hear here: about 90 seconds on Cathedral Church of St. Paul — the story behind what you're looking at, playing hands-free as you arrive.

Organized in 1830 and formally elevated on May 6, 1966, the Cathedral Church of St. Paul serves as the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont in Burlington. This congregation reported 386 members in 2023; no membership statistics were reported in 2024 parochial reports. In 2024 the plate and pledge income was $322,876 and the average Sunday attendance was 115.

About 55 Episcopalians first met in a Burlington hotel when St. Paul's Church was organized in 1830. The first service was held in the courthouse on June 12, 1831, and a stone, Gothic Revival church building was dedicated the following year. That structure was enlarged in 1851, 1866, and 1910—the 1910 renovation coming after a fire.

At the Diocesan Convention of 1965 St. Paul's was designated as the cathedral church of the diocese and it was formally elevated on May 6, 1966. The old St. Paul's Cathedral was destroyed by a fire on February 15, 1971, sparked by an electrical malfunction in the basement. The City of Burlington, then in the midst of a massive urban renewal project, offered to exchange the land of the old church for a new plot.

Fire destroyed the old cathedral in 1971, and you now walk ground offered fresh by urban renewal.

Where it is

Coordinates
44.47984, -73.21841
Area
Burlington
Era
1830 · Founding of St. Paul's
Start the Burlington tour →

Three stops free. No account needed. The audio plays itself as you walk.