National Cathedral celebrates its centennial

0 Comments | USA TODAY, June, 2007 | by Jayne Clark

The Washington National Cathedral, the world's sixth-largest, this year marks 100 years since construction began.

Theodore Roosevelt was president when the cornerstone was laid in 1907. There would be 14 subsequent presidents in the White House before the elder Bush, George H.W., helped place the final finial and declared the Gothic structure complete on Sept. 29, 1990.

The cathedral, which was recently voted one of the three most beautiful buildings in the USA in a survey by the American Institute of Architects, draws 800,000 visitors annually. It has hosted presidential funerals and national prayer services.

Centennial celebrations kicked off last week with the debut of the multimedia exhibit Dreamers and Believers: Cathedral Builders, which runs...