Grace Cathedral is located on Nob Hill in San Francisco, California. It is the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of California, once state-wide in area, now comprising the San Francisco Bay Area. The downtown San Francisco skyline, looking east from the central part of the city. ... A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy (such as the Roman Catholic Church or the Lutheran or Anglican churches), which serves as the central church of a bishopric. ...

It's ancestral parish, Grace Church, was founded it 1849 during the California Gold Rush. The Cathedral is the daughter of historic Grace Church. The first little chapel was built in the gold rush year of 1849, and the imposing third church, for a time called Grace "Cathedral," was destroyed in the fire following the 1906 earthquake. The railroad baron/banker Crocker family gave their ruined Nob Hill property for a diocesan cathedral, which took its name and founding congregation from the nearby parish. 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... San Francisco City Hall, April 20, 1906 The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake at San Francisco, California on the early morning of Wednesday, April 18, 1906. ... Nob Hill refers to a small district in San Francisco, California adjacent to the intersection of California and Powell streets (and the respective cable car lines). ... Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ...

Dean J. Wilmer Gresham nurtured the young cathedral, and work began on the present structure in 1928. Designed in French Gothic style by Lewis P. Hobart, it was completed in 1964 as the third largest Episcopal cathedral in the nation. See also Gothic art. ... The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the nations capital is the national cathedral of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. ...

Famed for its Ghiberti doors ("The Gates of Paradise"), labyrinths, varied stained glass, Keith Haring AIDS Chapel altarpiece, and medieval and contemporary furnishings, as well as its 44 bell carillon, organs, and choir, the Cathedral has become an international pilgrimage center for church-goer and visitor alike. Classical labyrinth Medieval labyrinth Walking the famous labyrinth within the Chartres Cathedral. ... Strictly speaking, stained glass is glass that has been painted with silver stain and then fired. ... A choir or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. ...

It contains one of only seven remaining Episcopal men and boys cathedral choirs with its corresponding school in the United States, along with Washington National Cathedral. Its director of music is Jeffery Smith. Washington National Cathedral was the site of two Presidential state funerals: for Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald W. Reagan, and a presidential burial in the cathedral mausoleum: Woodrow Wilson. ...

The current dean is the Very Reverend Alan Jones. In religious terminology, a dean is a title accorded to persons holding cartain positions of authority within a religious heirarchy. ...