St. Joseph's Basilica

The Basilica of St. Joseph is a Roman Catholic church located in Alameda, California at 1109 Chestnut Street. Its history dates back to early settlement of the City of Alameda, California. A former mission church of St. Anthony's in Oakland, the parish of St. Joseph's was established in 1885. It is part of the Diocese of Oakland. The Basilica was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 18, 1978.OriginsThe foundation of St. Joseph's can be traced to a Catholic mission in Alameda, created in 1873 by San Francisco Archbishop Jose Sadoc Alemany to serve the growing Roman Catholic population. Land for the mission church, on the southeast corner of Santa Clara Avenue and Chestnut Street had been donated by Mr. Minturn, a non-Catholic, and the first Catholic church in Alameda was built. The mission church built in 1873, was used as a place of worship for over twenty years. The mission was served by Father William Gleeson and the priests of St. Anthony's Church in Oakland. each Sunday Fr. Gleeson would ride horseback (or come on foot) to Alameda each Sunday to offer Mass and teach Catechism.With a growing congregation, Fr. Gleeson was assisted by Fr. J. B. McNally. Twice in a period of seven years the church was enlarged. Finally in 1881 a new church was built on the southwest corner of Chestnut Street and San Antonio Avenue. Fr. Gleeson had chosen this site for the convenience of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who had just built a girls’ school on the adjoining lot. Notre Dame Academy taught girls in grades one through twelve.