Saint Joseph, Oregon

[3] Saint Joseph was named by Ben Holladay, who chose this location as the terminus of the westside line of his Oregon Central Railroad, in order to encourage competition between Lafayette and McMinnville.

[3] There was a two-story hotel, and stagecoaches from McMinnville, Dayton, and Lafayette would meet the train, which brought passengers from the East Coast looking to buy acreage in the area from two companies that were formed to sell land there c. 1900.

[6][7][8] The westside line ran on the original Oregon Central tracks, while the eastside line ran on a connection that was extended from Saint Joseph to Lafayette in 1906, forming a wye that allowed trains to travel in three directions: north to Carlton and Forest Grove, northeast through Lafayette to Newberg, or southwest to McMinnville and eventually Corvallis.

[9] By the early 1990s, the line was cut back to about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) and today, this portion is used by the Portland and Western Railroad (PNWR) exclusively to store cars.

[9] The Southern Pacific lines were leased by the Portland and Western in the early 1990s and PNWR continues to run trains from Newberg through Saint Joseph to Corvallis.