| St. Paul Roman Catholic Church | |
| Location: | St. Paul, Oregon |
| Coordinates: | 45.2111°N -122.9783°W |
| Area: | French Prairie |
| Built: | 1846 |
| Architecture: | Gothic Revival[1] |
| Added: | October 16, 1979 |
| Refnum: | 79002098 |
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.[2] It is the oldest brick building in the Pacific Northwest.[3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[4]
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]