St. Patrick Cathedral (and Church)

St. Patrick's was the first Catholic parish established in Rochester, founded in 1823. Two priests from New York City, Fathers F. Kelly and P. McCormack, had ministered to area Catholics beginning in 1810 and built the original church on Platt Street. Father Michael McNamara became the first resident pastor in 1825, serving until his death in 1832.

When Bishop Bernard McQuaid arrived as Rochester's first bishop in 1868, St. Patrick's third church building was under construction. It became the diocesan cathedral and served as the mother church of the Diocese of Rochester for nearly seven decades.

The Eastman Kodak Company built their headquarters adjacent to the cathedral property in 1914. As the company expanded its footprint in the area over the following years, they sought to acquire the cathedral site. With approval from the Holy See, the diocese sold St. Patrick's Cathedral to Eastman Kodak in 1937. The cathedral closed forever on September 12, 1937, and was subsequently dismantled. Sacred Heart Church was named as the new pro-cathedral, becoming a full cathedral in 1952.

The St. Patrick's parish continued to exist separately from the cathedral, meeting in a new building nearby, until it became a mission in 1971 and was eventually closed. Today, a historical marker on the downtown campus of Monroe Community College commemorates the site where Rochester's first cathedral once stood.