In 1876 Father Thomas Loughrey was assigned as Fort Worth’s first parish priest, and a small wooden structure named for St. Stanislaus was built for services at 1212 Throckmorton Street. In 1884, Father Loughrey was replaced by the Reverend Jean Marie Guyot, a native of France, and by 1888 construction began on a stone church on this site, a gift of lawyer, real estate investor, and philanthropist John P. Smith. The Gothic Revival church was designed by Fort Worth architect James J. Kane. Scottish stonemason Andrew Cowan was hired by contractors Ramsey and Gilchrist to construct the rock-faced limestone structure. The stained glass windows, the first in North Texas, were imported from Munich, Germany. In 1969 St. Patrick was designated as cathedral of the newly established Diocese of Fort Worth. Over time the limestone was painted to seal against water penetration. A ten-year restoration was completed in 2008.
The grounds accommodate the cathedral, a rectory, and St. Ignatius Academy (1888, Sanguinet and Staats). Organized by the Belgian Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, the academy was the first Catholic school in the Fort Worth area. It is a three-story Second Empire design. By 1910 enrollment had grown so rapidly that a new building, Our Lady of Victory College, designed by Sanguinet and Staats was constructed at 3320 Hemphill Street. In 2012 a Parish Center designed by Raymond O’Connor was completed. O’Connor was responsible for the 2009 renovation of the 1908 rectory.