 Saint Joseph was platted with 74 blocks that each contained ten lots, and at one time the town had 150 houses.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 in about 1900.Henry Villard extended the railroad line from Saint Joseph south to Corvallis in 1878, and McMinnville became the more important railroad terminal.