St. John's Cathedral, Cleveland

The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist is a historic Roman Catholic church building located in Cleveland Ohio. Built in 1852, it is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.

Large numbers of Catholics started to arrive in the Western Reserve region of Ohio in the 1830s and were served by visiting priests sent north by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. A small group of Irish settlers established St. Mary's of the Flats in 1826. The congregation met in several locations before beginning construction on its own sanctuary in 1837.

Bishop Rappe established St. John's Cathedral on Superior Street and Erie Street on land purchased in 1845 by St. Mary's pastor Rev. Peter McLaughlin. He selected architect Patrick Keely, who designed the building in an ornamental Gothic style and the Bishop laid the cornerstone October 22, 1848. Until the new building was completed in 1852, St. Mary's served as cathedral for the diocese. At the time of its completion, the new cathedral was the well beyond Cleveland's Public Square.