Versailles inspired the design of the Cathedral of Saint Joseph. This is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Burlington. From 1999 to 2018 it served as the co-cathedral of the diocese, and after the closure of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception it became the cathedral church in 2018.
The story here begins earlier: Col. Archibald Hyde donated land for the first Catholic church in Burlington, a congregation that served both Irish and French Canadian immigrants. The French-speaking members felt like second-class citizens, and after raising the necessary funds and another donation of land, St. Joseph's parish was established as the first French Canadian parish in the United States in 1850. A church was constructed to serve the growing French-speaking Canadian population that had immigrated to the North End of Burlington during the mid-19th century.
The present church building was designed in 1883 by Rev. Joseph Michaud, a self-taught architect from Montreal who used the Chapel of the Palace of Versailles as his inspiration. Its cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1884, and it took four years to complete the structure. Rev. Joseph Michaud modeled this church you see on the Chapel of the Palace of Versailles, cornerstone laid in 1884.