This is a famous American organ. It was built by the Boston, Mass. firm E&GG Hook & Hastings (America's most prominent 19th century organ building firm) as their opus 828 for the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876. It was bought by and installed in St. Joseph's Cathedral the following year. Rebuilt twice over the years, first by Tellers of Erie, Pa. and then by Schlicker of Tonawanda, NY, it was rebuilt and enlarged by the Andover Organ Company of Andover, Mass. in 2000. Virtually all the original pipes were retained. The current decorations on the case pipes date from the 2000 rebuild, but the front pipes always featured colored stenciling.
