While the original church building was destroyed by fire during the great Johnstown flood of 1889, nine nuns survived by huddling in the nearby convent chapel.

St. John Gualbert Cathedral in Johnstown is one of two cathedrals in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. The original church was built on this site in 1835, but the current structure built after the 1889 flood - completed in 1895. St. John Gualbert became a cathedral on May 25, 1958.