St Mary’s Cathedral opened as St Mary’s Church in Great Western Road on 9 November 1871 with considerable ceremony.
The architect’s original vision for St Mary’s can be seen in this picture:
However, when the church was opened the spire was not yet completed. So in 1871 it looked like this:
There are extensive details of the opening ceremony reported in the Scottish Guardian including details of who was present, some of the details of the worship and reports of what was said at the celebratory lunch.
These can all be read here: St Mary’s Opening SSB
Many thanks to Roger Edwards for providing the pictures and article.