Parish Facilities OverviewMission San Jose was established in 1797 at the site of an Ohlone settlement. Click here for more information about the history of our location. Our buildings and grounds are where our worship, prayer, ministries, formation, and fellowship take place. They are also physical signs of our Catholic faith and proclaim our presence to the wider community. We are blessed to have Mission San Jose, our school, other parish buildings, and a beautiful campus without any financial debt. The map below shows the buildings on our parish campus:  Photo Tour of Parish Buildings and Grounds
The museum is the parish’s oldest building and is the oldest standing building in Alameda County. It was part of the original mission compound and dates to 1809. Mission San Jose is the fourteenth of the 21 Spanish Missions in Alta California. The church is an authentic replica of the original adobe church which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1868. The rebuilt mission church was completed in 1985. An historic cemetery dating to the mission era adjoins the mission church. 
We have a second, larger parish cemetery, Saint Joseph Cemetery, located south of the parish campus on Mission Blvd at Felipe Common. The Carriage House was built in 1882 by the Gallegos family, whose house and outbuildings occupied land along Mission Creek. It served as the parish office for many years and was closed in 2022 because of its deteriorated condition. The parish office has relocated to 289 St Joseph Terrace. This is the former Ministry House 2 building, which was renovated in 2021. Future renovation of the Carriage House is part of the parish master plan. 
St. Joseph School opened its doors on September 6, 1960. Although the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose no longer operate St. Joseph School, we continue to emphasize the four pillars of Dominican spirituality – Prayer, Community, Study, and Service. The school added a modular building in 
Our parish church and hall were built in 1965 and renovated in 2023. The St. Joseph Dream Garden is a landscaped patio area with statues and benches located on the Mission Blvd side of the church. 
Located between St. Joseph Terrace and Mission Creek on the north side of our parish campus is a large paved gathering area for parish events. Next to the gathering area is our Sleeping St. Joseph monument and the Holy Family Picnic Area. The parish’s outdoor Stations of the Cross follow a paved walkway around the exterior of the gathering area. 
The parish buildings along the upper portion of St. Joseph Terrace include the original rectory, which now houses the Faith Formation Office and other parish staff, a pastor’s residence next to the new Parish Office, and a parish storage building next to the Kindergarten and TK building. The open space behind these buildings may become an outdoor sports field as part of the parish master plan. About our campus
Our campus has been characterized as Alameda County’s most important historic site. The Mission church is a California Registered Historical Landmark, and the Mission and museum building are on the National Registry of Historic Places. The City of Fremont has classified the Carriage House as a “primary historic resource” and identified hundreds of “landmark trees” on our property requiring protection. We are also subject to the city’s hillside ordinance, Mission San Jose Historic District design guidelines, and the city’s riparian corridor policy because of Mission Creek along the north side of our property. There are additional fire prevention and building code requirements because we are located as the base of the Fremont hills in an area of increased wildfire risk. Maintenance Planning and Improvements
We have repaired roofs on the church and hall, school, rectory, and museum, replaced the museum’s leaking gutters and downspouts, tented the church and hall, school, and rectory to eradicate termites, replaced a failed wood retaining wall along the south side of the school parking lot, repaired soil erosion along the Mission Blvd frontage of St Joseph Cemetery, repaved the pathway behind the Mission cemetery and church, trimmed trees and removed overgrown brush, filled in the basement at the old site of the rectory before creating our new Gathering Area, renovated the two Ministry Houses, and repaired the building foundation under a portion of the museum. We also took advantage of a PG&E-funded program to replace incandescent and fluorescent lights with new, energy efficient LED lighting in the church and hall, school, and parking lots. All of these repair and maintenance projects have been funded from our parish and school operating and maintenance budgets and parish savings. Repairs and maintenance work is budgeted and prioritized in our parish operating budgets by the parish facilities team.
What's NextWe still need to repair and repaint the exteriors of the Mission Church and museum and renovate the Carriage House. In addition to these projects, the parish master plan includes completing a building connecting the Mission church to the museum and creating a sports field on the land we own behind the school. Click here to see the parish master plan. |
Saint Joseph Catholic Church
As good stewards we want to make the most of the facilities we already have and plan wisely for our future needs. This includes being aware of regulations and government policies that affect our buildings and grounds. 
As our facilities continue to age, our repair and maintenance needs will grow. Over the last several years we have been catching up on deferred maintenance. 
Numerous improvements have also been funded by donors who have repurposed their 2000 and 2006 capital campaign contributions, and by additional special donations from parishioners and school parents. These have enabled us to renovate the parish church and hall, allowed us to beautify the interior of the main church, create an adoration chapel, install kneelers in the Mission church, build the Holy Family Picnic Area and St. Joseph Dream Garden, replace the school playground, add new landscaping around the campus, and provide devotional opportunities like Sleeping St Joseph and Our Lady of Fatima statue near St Joseph Terrace.