The oldest frame church building standing in San Francisco.

Originally constructed in 1854 on the south side of Market Street between Second and Third where the Palace Hotel stands today, it was the second church for the Parish of Saint Patrick. The third St. Patrick's Church is on Mission Street between Third and Fourth.

In 1873, the building was moved to Eddy Street, between Laguna and Octavia to serve as the church building for Saint John the Baptist Parish. In 1891, it was moved to its present site to serve as the church for the Holy Cross Parish until 1899 when a new church was consecrated, and the old wooden church became the Parish Hall. Both buildings survived the 1906 Earthquake and Fire.

The 1854 church and the 1899 church have been reincarnated as Buddhist temples.

Buildings that Moved

It's not just that the people of the American West are restless, the buildings themselves sometimes pack up and move when - for one reason or another - the neighborhood no longer suits them or the neighbors no longer want them or opportunity waits down the road.

And when buildings remain in place, they are often searching for their identities.

Of the buildings and structures we have visited, the original Reno Arch holds the record for number of moves. It has been moved five times since it was built in 1926.

Jax Truckee Diner holds the distance title. The building moved from New Jersry to Pennsylvanis in 1948, then from Pennsylvania to Califonia in 1992.

Probably the most ambitious relocation occurred on July 4th 1904, when the Southern Pacific Railroad loaded most of the town of Wadsworth, Nevada, onto rail cars and transported the town thirty miles west to create a new town which became known as Sparks.