Planned by Bishop Flaget and designed by John Rogers, Saint Joseph Cathedral was dedicated Aug. 8, 1819. It was constructed of locally quarried stone, hand-made bricks, and pillars hewn from nearby trees, and Catholics and Protestants donated materials, money and labor to the project. It was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the U.S. west of the Allegheny Mountains. From 1808 to 1841, the Bardstown Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church provided leadership for a ten-state area. Under the guidance of Bishop Benedict Thomas Flaget, the church at Bardstown became a religious and education center, and in 1841 Flaget and the see of the diocese were moved to Louisville.