St. Joseph's College (Santa Clara County, California)
37°19′52″N 122°5′10″W / 37.33111°N 122.08611°W / 37.33111; -122.08611
St. Joseph's College was a seminary of the Archdiocese of San Francisco at Mountain View, California opened in September 1924.[1] It was also referred to as St. Joseph's Seminary. It was run by the Sulpician Fathers.[2]
Its creation was supervised by Archbishop Edward J. Hanna.[3] Hanna ordered the purchase of 700 acres and the seminary was considered "the jewel of his accomplishments."[3]
The seminary buildings were severely damaged by the Loma Prieta earthquake on 17 October 1989. The seminary was permanently closed on June 30, 1991.[1] The site is now part of Rancho San Antonio County Park.
Because of the changes brought about by the Vatican Council II in the late 1950s into the early 1960s, the number of seminary students decreased dramatically, which caused a severe lack of priests for the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the newly created diocese of San Jose. Also there was an internal church disagreement between the two dioceses concerning what entity owned the large parcel of land that once was the large seminary acreage. So eventually the land was sold to the county of Santa Clara, and a beautiful park was created for the people of the south Bay Area.
External links
- Official site
References
- ^ a b "Our History". St. Joseph’s - St. Patrick’s College Alumni Association. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ^ "Welcome Friends". St. Joseph’s - St. Patrick’s College Alumni Association. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ^ a b Gribble, Richard (2006). An Archbishop for the People: The Life of Edward J. Hanna. pp. 78–79. ISBN 0809144050.
