St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Fourth & D Streets, Jacksonville, Jackson County, OR

Significance: The Catholic residents of Jacksonville first celebrated mass in the home of Charles Casey in 1853, when missionary Father James Croke visited the town. In 1855, when Father Croke again undertook a missionary tour of Southern Oregon, he reported to his superior, Archbishop Francis Norbert Blanchet of Oregon City, that there were 105 Catholics 100 adults and 5 minors in the Rogue River Valley. His report indicated that about one-third of the Catholics in Oregon not served by resident clergy in established parishes lived in Jacksonville and the surrounding area. In 1856, Father Croke again wrote the Archbishop, advising him that the Catholics of Jacksonville desired a church, and that "if the mining be successful this winter, there would be a fair chance of making a good collection toward building a little church, which will answer not only for that town but for all the mining districts for sixty or seventy miles all around."
Survey number: HABS OR-121
Building/structure dates: 1858 Initial Construction