First church (1808–1854) St. Patrick's Parish was organized in 1808 under its first pastor, Rev. William F. X. O'Brien, who had been ordained that year in Baltimore and assigned to Pittsburgh. O'Brien immediately began construction of a modest brick church on Liberty and Washington Streets, near what later became
Union Station. The lot had been donated in 1811 by James O'Hara and his wife Mary. O'Brien celebrated Mass in temporary quarters on Second Avenue and in other improvised chapels while the building was underway. In 1827 he initiated plans for a much larger church at the corner of Grant Street and Fifth Avenue, with a cornerstone laid in 1829 and construction continuing into the 1830s. This work eventually gave rise to
St. Paul's, which developed into the diocesan cathedral, while St. Patrick's remained a parish church. By the early 20th century the parish's composition had shifted from its original Irish founding families to a more diverse congregation drawn from the Strip District's working-class population. The future of the parish was in doubt, but the charisma and vision of Father Cox led to a renewal of the parish. Cox became widely known through his radio sermons and public support for local workers, including Pittsburgh taxi drivers seeking to unionize. During the
Great Depression he oversaw a nearby shantytown and organized extensive relief efforts through soup kitchens, bread lines, medical clinics, a barber shop, and a shoe repair shop, as well as makeshift housing built from discarded materials. Among the distinctive features added to the third church under Father Cox were "catacombs," subterranean passageways and rooms beneath the church that he promoted in the 1920s and early 1930s as a devotional attraction. Photographs show Cox celebrating Mass in the underground space, which drew visitors and small donations.
Fourth and present church On March 21, 1935, a fire destroyed Old St. Patrick's Church, then 125 years old. The blaze broke out in the early morning hours and quickly spread through the building, injuring six people. He intended to include a model of the
Scala Sancta, modeled on the Roman original, constructed of 28 steps brought from Jerusalem, as well as nearly 700 stones collected from sites such as Calvary, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Holy Sepulchre. In 1937 the Monastery Gardens were added, including a large outdoor grotto with a marble altar where Masses were held in fair weather. Cox continued to serve the parish and to preach on the radio in the years that followed, and he remained outspoken against bigotry until his death in 1951 at the age of 65. ==Architecture==