which opened on the site of the Columbia University campus near 116th Street in 1821. The other was Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum, bounded by 110th Street to the south and 113th Street to the north, which later became the current cathedral site. The Leake and Watts asylum was incorporated in 1831 under act of the New York State Legislature, and three years later, land at the corner of Bloomingdale Road (now Broadway) and 110th Street was purchased from the Bloomingdale Asylum. The initial plans for the asylum were drawn up by Ithiel Town, but were revised several times to keep the costs within the asylum's budget. The cornerstone of the asylum was laid in 1838, and it was completed in 1843. Need for a cathedral Meanwhile, the Episcopal Diocese of New York started to grow in the early 19th century: there were 26 Episcopal parishes in the city by 1800, and a decade later, that number had nearly doubled to 50. In 1828, the first proposal for a grand cathedral for the diocese was made by Bishop John Henry Hobart, who proposed a site near Washington Square Park. The church would be called the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, or St. John's Cathedral for short, after the Revelation by John of Patmos (also called "John the Divine"). The plans were canceled because of objections over erecting such a large building for the diocese, a derivative of the Church of England, even as many New Yorkers still harbored resentment over the American Revolutionary War. In 1873, a cathedral board of trustees was established under Bishop Horatio Potter. The board decided on property just south of Central Park, bounded by 59th Street to the north and 57th Street to the south. However, the purchase was canceled after the would-be donors lost their savings in the Panic of 1873. Yet another plot of land, at Eighth Avenue and 74th Street, was offered to the church in 1882, but rejected due to the high cost of acquisition. By 1890, there were 40,000 Episcopalians in Manhattan, and Episcopalians made up the largest bloc of Protestants in the borough. Furthermore, many imposing institutions were being built in New York City, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera House, and the American Museum of Natural History. Planning Site selection When Henry C. Potter, Horatio Potter's nephew, became the Diocese of New