Saint Francis de Sales Cathedral

Baker City's Saint Francis de Sales Cathedral, completed in nineteen oh eight, is the largest Catholic church in eastern Oregon and one of the most unexpected architectural sights on the high desert. It was built during the gold-and-silver boom that made Baker City briefly one of the wealthiest cities between Salt Lake City and Portland. The diocese of Baker was established in nineteen oh three specifically to serve the vast, sparsely populated interior of the state, and this cathedral has served as its seat ever since.

Its twin towers and Gothic Revival facade, built of locally quarried stone, were financed largely by mining-camp money flowing down from the Elkhorn Mountains. Standing here, it is a reminder that gold rushes don't just produce ghost towns, they sometimes leave behind real institutions.