Saint Joseph Parish (Mountain View, CA)
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Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Mountain View, California is a parish of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. Located in Mountain View in the state of California, the church falls under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose in California and its bishop. It is named after Saint Joseph, step-father of Jesus.
[edit] History
The first Catholic church in the Mountain View was built in 1867 with funds gathered by Rev. Joseph Bixio, S.J. of Santa Clara. It was a little white wooden building, topped by a cross, nestled among tall shade trees and enclosed by a white picket fence at the corner of El Camino Real and Alviso Road. The land was donated by John Sullivan whose teams hauled the lumber from Watsonville. It was a small church accommodating 150 people until 1884 when it's capacity was increased to 250. Rev. John J.Cullen was appointed the first pastor in 1901.
The Castro family donated the present church property, on Castro and Hope streets, and in 1905 concrete was poured for the foundations and a wooden church was established. St. Joseph's Parish then included the towns of Mountain View, Los Altos, Sunnyvale, and Mayfield (south of Palo Alto), ranging from San Francisco Bay to Skyline Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains at this time.
The population growth , spurred by the railroad, was putting great pressure on the church within a few years after it was completed. In 1916 St. Martin's Parish was established in Sunnyvale, in 1919 St. Aloysius in Mayfield, in 1947 St. Athanasius in Mountain View and St. William's in Los Altos.
In 1928, St. Joseph's Church burned down as a result of a fire set by a pyromaniac. In 1929 the present church was built with a seating capacity of 650. Starting in 1948, under the direction of Father James Doyle, the church acquired 15 acres off Miramonte Avenue near El Camino Real and established St. Joseph's Elementary School and Holy Cross High School for girls.
[edit] Succession of Pastors
- Rev. John J. Cullen, 1901-1910
- Rev. Michael Horan, 1910-1917
- Rev. John Smyth, 1917-1922
- Rev. Lawrence Murphy, 1922-1923
- Rev. James W. Galvin, 1923-1944
- Rev. John M. Kennedy, 1938-1947
- Rev. James B. Doyle, 1947-1963
- Rev. George D. Moss, 1963-1976
- Rev. William M. Lenane, 1976-1984
- Rev. Eugene P. O'Donnell, 1984-1996
- Rev. Oscar D. Tabujara, 1996-Present
