It is named after the Saint Paul Mission founded by Archbishop François Norbert Blanchet, who arrived in the Oregon Country in 1838 to minister to the Catholic inhabitants of French Prairie.

[6] On January 6, 1839, Father (later Archbishop) Blanchet celebrated the first Catholic mass in Oregon at St. Paul, when he blessed the log church and dedicated it to St.

[6] St. Paul Roman Catholic Church was built in 1846 and is the oldest brick building in the Pacific Northwest.

St. Paul Pioneer Cemetery, founded in 1839, is the burial location for William Cannon, the only authenticated Revolutionary War veteran buried in Oregon.

[8][9] He had arrived in Oregon in 1811 as part of John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company.

[11] Along with Cannon, 535 other early settlers and Native Americans are buried in the pioneer cemetery, including Étienne Lucier, known as "The Father of Oregon Agriculture", and François Rivet and Philippe Degre who claimed to be members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

[9][12] Rivet had accompanied the expedition as far as Fort Mandan, and Degre attached himself in to the company while they wintered there in 1804–1805.

[9][13] A wall of remembrance in the cemetery was dedicated in 2005, with members of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon as honored guests.

[9] Early French Canadian settlers often married women from the local tribes, which included the Clackamas, Molala and Kalapuya.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.29 square miles (0.75 km2), all of it land.

[17] Also, every summer, the Professional Bull Riders holds a minor-league, Touring Pro Division (TPD) event in St. Paul.

[18] The district includes 63 contributing properties,[19] with St. Paul Catholic Church, which is also individually listed on the NRHP, as the centerpiece.