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Building History

Pope Gregory XVI created the Vicariate Apostolic of the Oregon Territory on 12/01/1843, and less than three years later, on 07/24/1846, his successor, Pope Pius IX, divided it into three dioceses, in Oregon City, Walla Walla and Vancouver Island. The Quebec-born priest François Norbert Blanchet (1795-1883) served as Oregon City's first Bishop in 1845, and was elevated to Archbishop status on 07/29/1850. Blanchet administered the Archdiocese in Oregon City from 1850 until 1862, when he moved his residence to Portland. French Catholic architect Prosper Huerne (1820-1892) obtained the commission to design this Gothic Revival residence for a new Archbishop, Charles John Seghers, (born 12/16/1839 om Ghen, Belgium) who became coadjutor with Blanchet, on 12/10/1878. With Seghers administering daily affairs of the Archdiocese, Blanchet gradually retired by 1880. (See New Advent.org, "Archdiocese of Oregon City," accessed 01/17/2019.)

Seghers moved to Alaska in 1884, and was replaced by Archbishop William Hickley Gross (1837-1898), who undertook the building of a large new cathedral at SW 3rd Avenue and Stark Street.nearby to this residence.The Cathedral was flooded in 1894 and subsequently sold, and replaced by a pro-cathedral at NW 15th Avenue and Davis Street in 1899.

Officially, the Archdiocese remained in Oregon City until it was moved to the more vibrant city of Portland in 1926,