Louisiana Street, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
Cathedral of St. Andrew
The cathedral of the Diocese of Little Rock, a handsome Neo-Gothic church in downtown Arkansas that has served as the mother church of the state's Catholics since 1881.
St. Andrew's sits on Louisiana Street in downtown Little Rock, a compact Gothic Revival building in warm brown stone that fits comfortably among the state capital's civic buildings. The original church went up in 1881, and the present structure dates to a 1903 rebuilding after fire. The interior is modest in scale but carefully done — pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, and stained glass windows imported from Munich that are genuinely beautiful. Arkansas has never been a heavily Catholic state, so this cathedral has always served a smaller community with real devotion. The parish runs active outreach in one of the South's more overlooked cities.
Diocese: Diocese of Little Rock
Style: Neo-Gothic
What to See
The Munich stained glass is the highlight — the colors are rich and the figures well-drawn, among the best you'll find in any Arkansas church. The vaulting is well-proportioned despite the building's modest size, and the stone exterior has weathered nicely.
Pilgrim Notes
Daily Mass is available. The cathedral is in central Little Rock, walkable from the River Market district. It's a smaller parish, so visitors are noticed and welcomed.