Basilica of St. Joseph, Catholic basilica on Chestnut Street in Alameda, California, US
The Basilica of St. Joseph stands at 1109 Chestnut Street in Alameda, California. The Spanish Colonial Revival church, copied from the old mission in Monterey, was designed by Massachusetts architect H. A. Minton, who had come west to help rebuild San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. Its cornerstone was set on August 22, 1920, and the first Mass was held on December 25, 1921.
A Catholic mission was created in Alameda in 1873 by San Francisco Archbishop Jose Sadoc Alemany, and St. Joseph's Parish was established in 1885. The wooden church burned on the night of September 29, 1919. The present Spanish Colonial Revival church, designed by Massachusetts architect H. A. Minton, had its cornerstone set on August 22, 1920, and its first Mass on December 25, 1921. Pope Paul VI elevated it to a minor basilica in 1972.
The parish was established in 1885 under Archbishop Patrick William Riordan, with Father Michael McNaboe as first pastor. The church is named for St. Joseph, and its tower carries a 1928 plaque placed by Father James Bernard Praught reading "TIME GOD's sublime GIFT!" in memory of Anna Marie Broderick. The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary staffed the parish from 1983 until 2007.
The church stands at 1109 Chestnut Street, near the corner with Santa Clara Avenue, in central Alameda. The entrance faces Chestnut Street, and the 1920s tower with its inscribed plaque is visible from the sidewalk. The first Mass in the present building was celebrated on December 25, 1921.
The bell in the tower was donated by the Knights of Columbus and cast from metal of the bell destroyed in the 1919 fire. The new church's cornerstone was laid on August 22, 1920, by Archbishop Edward Joseph Hanna, and the first Mass followed on Christmas Day 1921.
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