Augustin-Magloire Blanchet, the first bishop of the new diocese, dedicated a cathedral in honor of Saints James and Augustine within Fort Vancouver on January 23, 1851.

This building, which was completed in 1885, served as the cathedral for eighteen years and remains a Catholic church to the present day.

Junger's successor, Edward O'Dea, realized that Vancouver's importance as an economic and population center was waning and at the urging of Reverend Francis X. Prefontaine, a priest in rapidly growing Seattle, O'Dea moved the episcopal see to Seattle in 1903, and immediately laid plans to build a new cathedral.

It was designed by Seattle architect James Stephen and was located on the cathedral block, at the corner of Terry Avenue and Columbia Street.

[7] In 1994, the cathedral underwent its most recent major restoration and renovation, which sought to incorporate changes supposedly brought about by the Second Vatican Council.

These changes included moving the altar from its original location at the east end of the cathedral to the crossing at the center of the building.

In 1994, three new windows were added, the work of Hans Gottfried von Stockhausen, a noted German stained-glass artist, who has served on the faculty of the Pilchuck School.

The window celebrates the Pacific Northwest in the regional industries of 1950: fishing, shipping, lumber, and manufacturing, and includes a sketch of Mount Rainier.

She worshipped in St. James Cathedral in its early years, when her missionary travels brought her to Seattle to serve Italian immigrants.

The west vestibule floor contains a mosaic declaring, DOMUS DEI PORTA COELI: “House of God, Gate of Heaven” (Genesis 28:17).

Along the walls of this vestibule white marble tablets honor many parishes and individuals who participated in the 1994 renovation and subsequent major projects.

Along the north wall stands the most recent addition to the cathedral's devotional works, a shrine honoring Saint John XXIII, the Pope who called the Second Vatican Council.

Randall Rosenthal,[12] a Jewish sculptor, interpreted the prophet Isaiah: “For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my Word be, that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10, 11).

The Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary was designed by parishioner Susan Jones and is meant to evoke the warm and loving darkness of the womb.

Following medieval tradition, the stars on the ceiling replicate the heavens as seen above Seattle on the night of December 22, the date of the cathedral's dedication.

The cathedral's original choir space in the west gallery features an organ built by the Boston firm of Hutchings-Votey (Opus 1623).

They incorporate some of Charles Connick's 1918 stained glass, which furnish a background for Stockhausen's six roundels illustrating the works of mercy from Matthew 25.

The artist's hope was that in seeing these scenes from the life of Jesus, people would ask, ‘Where are these things happening today?’ From top to bottom: The right-hand panel shows: The central window tells the story of baptism.