St. Paul Roman Catholic Church (St. Paul, Oregon)

Contents

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.[1] It is the oldest brick building in the Pacific Northwest.[2] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[3]

Background

French Prairie, where St. Paul is located, was named after the French Canadian fur trappers who built their cabins in the area. In the 1830s, the French Prairie fur-trappers were raising their families without benefit of a Catholic priest. To remedy the situation, they asked the Bishop of Julopolis at Red River (now Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) to send a priest to them. Their first petion has not been found, but their 1836 petition is extant.[4]

Twenty men signed and indicated how many children they had.

  • Joseph Jarvay [Gervais], 7 children
  • Xaviar Laderout, 1 child
  • Eken Luceay, 6 children[5]
  • Peare Belleck Bellique, 3 children[6]
  • Charles Rondo, 3 children[7]
  • Charles Plant, 4 children
  • Pear Depo [Depot], 5 children
  • Andrey Pecor, 4 children
  • Joseph Delar, 5 children
  • Luey Fourcy, 3 children
  • Lamab Erquet [Arquette], 3 children
  • Jean Bt Perrault, 2 children
  • joseph Desport, 3 children
  • Andrey Longten [Longtain], 4 children
  • John Bt Desportes, 2 children
  • William Johnson, 2 children
  • Charlo Chata, Iroquois Indian[8]
  • William McCarty
  • Etienne Leferte
  • Louis Labonte

First church

The French Canadian pioneers and Indians on the French Prairie in the Willamette Valley built a log cabin chapel along the Willamette River near the Methodist Mission.[9][10] This structure was later moved to St. Paul and served as the church for the community until the current brick structure was built in 1846.[9]

The priests arrive

The Roman Catholic Church sent François Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers to the Oregon Country.[11] 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.[12] While preaching to the Catholic community at that church, Blanchet lived behind the altar.[9] On December 11, 1843, Pope Gregory XVI created an apostolic vicarate out of Oregon with Blanchet as the archbishop.[11]

Brick church

The log church was replaced by a building made of bricks that were fired on site.[13] Father Blanchet dedicated the new church building on November 1, 1846.[13]

Church registers

The St. Paul Church registers have been transcribed and are available through the St. Paul Mission Historical Society.[14]

The first St. Paul mass was held on January 6, 1839. Subsequent masses were held until February e, 1839 and then from May 13, to June 10, 1839. These sacraments were recorded in the Vancouver register.[15]

Harriet Duncan Munnick and Mikell De Lores Wormell Warner, Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest Vancouver Volumes I and II and Stella Maris Mission (St. Paul, Oregon: French Prairie Press, 1972),

Harriet Duncan Munnick, Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest: St. Paul, Oregon 1839–1898 (Portland, OR: Binford & Mort, 1979)

References

  1. 1.Corning, Howard M. Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. p. 215.
  2. 2.Edmonston, George P. Jr.; Patricia Filip. "Rewrites". A look at five OSU researchers who are revolutionizing their academic disciplines. Oregon Stater. Archived from the original on February 22, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  3. 3."Oregon National Register List" (PDF). Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. June 6, 2011. p. 28. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  4. 4.Jette, Melinda (2003). "Willamette Settlers to the Bishop of Juliopolis". Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  5. 5.Etienne Lucier
  6. 6.Peare Belleck Bellique
  7. 7.Charles Rondo
  8. 8.Charles Tchete
  9. 9.[9.2][9.3]Chapman, J. S. (1993). French prairie ceramics: the Harriet D. Munnick archaeological collection, circa 1820-1860 : a catalog and Northwest comparative guide. Anthropology northwest, no. 8. Corvallis, Or: Dept. of Anthropology, Oregon State University.
  10. 10.Lenzen, Connie (2024). "Charles Tchete, St.. Paul Church Founder" (PDF). St. Paul Mission Historical Society - St. Paul, Oregon (Stories tab). Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  11. 11.[11.2]Horner, John B. (1919). Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland.
  12. 12.Blanchet, Francis Norbert, and Edward J. Kowrach. Historical sketches of the Catholic Church in Oregon. Fairfield, Wash.: Ye Galleon Press, 1983, p. 80
  13. 13.[13.2]Engeman, Richard (2005). "St. Paul Catholic Church, Marion County". Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  14. 14."St. Paul Mission Historical Society – St. Paul, Oregon". Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  15. 15.Munnick, Harriet Duncan (1979). Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest: St. Paul, Oregon 1839 - 1898, Volumes I, II and III. Portland, Oregon: Binford & Mort, Publishers. pp. xiii. ISBN 0-8323-0348-8.