St. Louis Church - Marion County, Oregon - Country Churches on Waymarking.com

St. Louis is an unincorporated community in the French Prairie area of the mid-Willamette Valley. The are a few farm houses near the church; the nearest city, Gervais, is two miles to the east.

This Roman Catholic church was founded in 1845 by a Jesuit missionary who built a log church here for early residents. Following a fire that destroyed the original structure, in 1880 the present church building was erected. It is the oldest wooden church in the archdiocese. The 1,028 pound bell was installed in the church tower in 1885.

In 1847, the St. Louis parish became the third to be established in Oregon and was named for St. Louis, the King of France. In 1872, the parish at Gervais separated from St. Louis and the two parishes existed separately for more than 100 years. In 1991, they reunited and when the pastor of the Sacred Heart Church at Gervais asked for a copy of the decree establishing the new, combined parish, archdiocese officials discovered that the 1872 separation had never been decreed, so a new decree was not necessary as "what had never been decreed to be separated needed no decree to be reunited."

A notable local mystery is connected with the location of the remains of Madame Marie Dorian, an American Indian from the Iowa tribe and only female member of the Astor Expedition, who served as interpreter. She is a heroic figure, having attempted to save the life of a French member of the party during an attack by Indians. She ultimately settled in St. Louis and upon her death in 1850, she was buried inside the original St. Louis church. When that church was burned in 1880, her remains were forgotten and their exact whereabouts are no longer known. The current 1880 church building was erected near the old church, but the exact site of the old church is not known. A metal marker on the current church reads "built 1845" but that actually refers to the original, log church building.

The church holds mass at 8:00 a.m on Saturdays and Sundays.

Church Name: St. Louis Church Church In Use (even only just occassionally): yes Date Church Built: 1880 Rate this church.:

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Pictures required:
1. Church picture
2. Church sign (schedule sign with Church name on it &/or gate with Church name, etc).

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