St. Joseph, West St. Paul began with ‘Sloppy Joe’s’

St. Joseph in West St. Paul

Before sacred hymns filled what became the first church of St. Joseph in West St. Paul in 1943, the building had served as a tavern known for live country western music.

124-year-old brick church a reminder of St. Joseph of the Lakes’ roots

A statue of St. Joseph sits in front of the historic church that was built 124 years ago after a windstorm in 1985 destroyed the original church in what was then called Rice Lake. In the background is the new church, built in 1997, for the parish now called St. Joseph of the Lakes in Lino Lakes

The parish of St. Joseph of Rice Lake had been incorporated for a mere four years in 1895 when its first church, made of wood, was destroyed in a windstorm that hit what is now the city of Lino Lakes.

Maple Grove parish grew out of St. Joseph church in Minneapolis

St. Joseph the Worker

In 1884, a north Minneapolis parish moved a number of blocks, nearly to downtown Minneapolis— literally pulling St. Joseph church, its school and other buildings on rollers to an area near Washington and Plymouth avenues.

Mixing pot of European immigrants founded St. Joseph, Red Wing

St. Joseph in Red Wing’s first church (left side, center), was a white, wood-framed structure dedicated in 1865. It seated 100 people and served as the parish home until a larger, stone church was built in 1877.

In the 1850s, the founding families of St. Joseph in Red Wing — many of them German immigrants still mastering English — welcomed into their homes a priest with a French accent who came monthly on horseback to say Mass.

Parishioners live faith with determination at St. Joseph in New Hope, Plymouth

St. Joseph’s “Little Church” on Rockford Road in Plymouth continues to serve the parish 144 years after it was constructed by French-Canadian parishioners. It is one of the parish’s two churches, with a larger, contemporary church in New Hope.

St. Joseph the builder might find it interesting that parishioners of St. Joseph in New Hope and Plymouth worship each Sunday in two very different churches in separate cities, more than four miles apart.

Miesville parish honors its patron with statue, stained glass

St. Joseph in Miesville

When Harriet Wiederholt — who turned 97 Aug. 21 — was growing up, her family sat on the “St. Joseph side” during Sunday Mass at St. Joseph in Miesville.

At fledgling Waconia parish, an ox horn announced Mass would be held

Pictures of St. Joseph church and school in Waconia as they existed at that time are merged in this 1880 photo.

In the mid-1800s, the parish of St. Joseph in Waconia had a procedure for letting members know their traveling priest hadn’t been waylaid by weather or sickness.

St. Joseph in Rosemount brought together Irish and German immigrants

St. Joseph in Rosemount’s current church was dedicated in 2003, 135 years after 10 founding families from the Rosemount and Lakeville areas gathered to dedicate the parish’s first, wood-frame church located between the two communities.

The 1868 founding of St. Joseph of Rosemount temporarily brought together Catholics from two towns, but another union still exists between members whose families came from European countries of different languages more than 1,000 miles apart.

CSJs have deep devotion to their silent patron

A statue of St. Joseph with the Christ Child, right, stands outside the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet’s Our Lady of the Presentation Chapel, located near St. Catherine University in St. Paul, in this undated photo.

The chapel in St. Paul where the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet have traditionally prayed and made vows isn’t named for their patron, St. Joseph, but they say St. Joseph’s spirit has been with them during important events there.

St. Joseph parish founded in heyday of Taylors Falls’ logging industry

Additions on both sides and interior renovation have expanded the church of St. Joseph since it came down the hill to its present location on Bench Street in Taylors Falls.

Catholics arriving for Sunday Mass at St. Joseph in Taylors Falls on June 13, 1886, discovered that during the night, an unprecedented log jam had formed on the nearby St. Croix River.