it reaches a height of 120 feet. Until the erection of the new Cathedral of St. Joseph (Hartford, Connecticut) in 1957, Holy Cross was the largest cathedral in New England. Supervision of the construction fell largely to Keely and his assistant John A. Dempwolf. After the Diocese of Providence was separated from the Diocese of Hartford in 1872, Hartford needed its own cathedral. The groundbreaking took place on August 30, 1876. Keely designed St. Joseph's as an Early Gothic structure, cruciform in shape and its exterior clad in Portland rough brownstone. Two square towers that rose flanked the main facade, recalling those of the Church of Notre Dame in Montreal, Canada. The interior featured an inlaid ceiling with wood from every country in the world, a rotunda with $100,000 worth of gold leaf, a bishop's throne of carved oak, a marble high altar, and 72 stained glass windows. The original St. Joseph's Cathedral, which was consecrated on May 8, 1892. A fire destroyed the cathedral on December 31, 1956. Its cause was never determined. When the Diocese of Providence was established, the old Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul (Providence, Rhode Island) which had been built by the first Bishop of Hartford, was in disrepair (part of the ceiling actually collapsed on the congregation during a Holy Week ceremony). Bishop Thomas Francis Hendricken, the first Bishop of Providence, also hired Keely to design a new cathedral. The new cathedrals in Hartford and Providence were both built of Connecticut Brownstone and showed a distinct resemblance in their exteriors. The interior of Sts. Peter and Paul has an elaborately coffered, carved, stenciled, and gilded ceiling of cypress wood which features a large painting of The Transfiguration over the Crossing which is surrounded by medallions of the Four Evangelists. They were painted by 19th Century Bavarian artist, William Lamprecht. The three largest cathedrals in New England, Boston and Providence (both still standing), along with Hartford, (lost to fire), are among Keely's greatest accomplishments. Keely later partnered with his wife's brother-in-law, James Murphy in Brooklyn, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island, under the name Keely & Murphy from the 1860s to 1867, until Murphy opened his own practice in Providence. Keely worked throughout the eastern United States and Canada, primarily in the industrial mill towns and cities of the state of New York and New England, principally a designer of Roman Catholic churches or