More Than 150 Years of Faith in Helena
St. Peter’s Episcopal Cathedral’s history begins in 1867 when 30-year-old Daniel Sylvester Tuttle was consecrated on May 1st, 1867 as the Bishop of the Territories of Montana, Idaho, and Utah. Arriving in Helena, a rough-and-tumble gold camp, only three months later, he observed: “Now is the time for the Church to act. She must occupy here at once.”
Bishop Tuttle formed St. Peter’s Mission and, the next year, bought a lot on the southwest corner of Grand Street and Warren Avenue for $1,200. The foundation was laid in 1878 and the stone Gothic-style building was completed in 1879 when St. Peter’s Parish was organized. With the consecration of the building in 1881, the parish was renamed “St. Peter’s Church.”
1866-1880, Missionary Bishop
Helena’s political and financial power expanded rapidly in the early 1880s, its population nearly tripling due, in part, to its 1875 designation as the Montana Territory capital. In March 1883, two months before the Northern Pacific Railway’s arrival in Helena further transformed the city’s fortunes, St. Peter’s lay and clergy leadership and Missionary Bishop Leighton R. Brewer recognized the need for another hospital. St. Peter’s Hospital incorporated in June 1884 and a temporary location opened near the depot three months later. By December 1887, staff and patients moved into a new purpose-built St. Peter’s Hospital in downtown Helena.
In 1930, the North Park Avenue lot where St. Peter’s Episcopal Cathedral now stands was purchased as the site for the new church. By 1932, construction had advanced sufficiently for the congregation to celebrate its Easter service here, a milestone in the life of the parish.
Read More About Our HistoryOur Cathedral’s Beginnings
After more than fifty years on Warren Avenue, St. Peter’s outgrew its original church home. In 1930, Rector Henry H. Daniels purchased land near Hill Park and commissioned Spokane architects Whitehouse and Price to design a new church for the growing congregation.
Bishop William Faber laid the cornerstone in 1931, and the new St. Peter’s was dedicated on Easter Sunday in 1932. Because of the economic challenges of the Great Depression, many of the building’s furnishings and decorative elements were completed over the following years.
Shortly after its dedication, St. Peter’s became a Pro-Cathedral and later received full Cathedral status. Today, it remains one of Montana’s finest examples of Arts and Crafts architecture and is a contributing property within Helena’s Historic District.
Our Cathedral Today
The Cathedral and its surrounding campus tell the story of generations of faith in Helena. Following the construction of the Cathedral in 1932, parishioners continued to enrich the space with stained glass windows, handcrafted furnishings, and memorial gifts. The campus later expanded with the addition of Wilson Hall, creating space for education, fellowship, and community life alongside worship.
As much as we cherish these buildings, we remember that the church is more than stone, wood, and glass. It is the people who gather here in prayer, worship, fellowship, and service. As longtime members of St. Peter’s have expressed, the building is simply the place where God’s church meets.
