St. Paul Roman Catholic Church | |
Location | St. Paul, Oregon |
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Coordinates | 45°12′40″N 122°58′42″W / 45.21111°N 122.97833°W |
Area | French Prairie |
Built | 1846 [1] |
Architectural style | Gothic Revival [2] |
NRHP reference No. | 79002098 |
Added to NRHP | October 16, 1979 [1] |
St. Paul Roman Catholic Church in St. Paul, Oregon, United States, was the first church in Oregon to be built with bricks when it was constructed in 1846. [3] It is the oldest brick building in the Pacific Northwest. [4] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. [1]
In 1836, French Canadian pioneers on the French Prairie in the Willamette Valley built a log cabin chapel along the Willamette River near the Methodist Mission. [5] This structure was later moved to St. Paul and served as the church for the community until the current structure was built in 1846. [5] After several requests for a religious leader by the French Canadians in the Willamette Valley beginning in 1834, and a second request in 1836, the Roman Catholic Church sent several priests including François Norbert Blanchet to Oregon Country. [6] After receiving permission from the Hudson's Bay Company, Blanchet moved south of the Columbia River and gave the first Mass in the Willamette Valley on January 6, 1839. [7] While preaching to the Catholic community at that church, Blanchet lived behind the altar. [5] On December 11, 1843, Pope Gregory XVI created an apostolic vicarate out of Oregon with Blanchet as the archbishop. [6]
After the original log structure burned down, parishioners decided to replace the old church with a brick structure. [8] On May 24, 1846, the cornerstone was laid on the new red-brick building. [8] Upon completion, Blanchet dedicated the new church building on November 1, 1846. [8]