St. Patrick's Catholic Church
St. Patrick’s Catholic Church is located on Sheep Ranch Road, atop a small promontory
surrounded by big pines. Typifying Gothic Revival churches of the period, construction of St.
Patrick’s began in 1858 upon land donated by Dr. Jones and was completed in 1861. The church was
built from bricks which were made from a clay deposit located on the nearby Big Trees road. It
was financed entirely by miners’ donations collected by the “Church Builder of Calaveras County,”
Pastor J. Motter. The church was dedicated on Sunday, November 3 of 1861, by Reverend Joseph S.
Alemany, Archbishop of San Francisco. The Pioneer Cemetery near the church dates back to the
1850’s.
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