In 1952, parishioners of St. Joseph in Taylors Falls moved their 1874 wood frame church two miles down from a hilltop to a more central site downtown.

In 1952, parishioners of St. Joseph in Taylors Falls moved their 1874 wood frame church two miles down from a hilltop to a more central site downtown. COURTESY ST. JOSEPH

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.

Undoubtedly parishioners were among the 400 men who worked for six weeks clearing up the 150 million feet of logs produced by the lumber industry, which were backed up for more than three miles.

The scenic St. Croix Valley where the parish is located now offers recreation rather than logging. Members of St. Joseph’s 280 households travel from both sides of the river to their church, where a large white statue of their patron greets them at the entrance.

In the 1850s, Irish immigrants Patrick and Elizabeth Fox gathered at their home for Mass with Catholics probably employed in the burgeoning lumber industry. Before the white wood frame church named for St. Joseph was completed in 1874, priests visited about twice a year, according to a history compiled by parishioner Clayton Rivard, now deceased.

With the 1884 establishment of St. Francis Xavier parish about 10 miles down the river from St. Joseph, a connection formed that continues today. For more than 50 years, both were missions of different area parishes, and, for a time, part of the St. Cloud diocese, Rivard wrote. In 1948, St. Joseph became an independent parish with St. Francis as a mission parish. Now the two churches are a parish cluster in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

In addition to St. Francis, St. Joseph is bordered by St. Michael and St. Mary in Stillwater, St. Peter in Forest Lake, St. Bridget of Sweden in Lindstrom, St. Gregory in North Branch and St. Genevieve in Centerville, said Father John Drees, St. Joseph’s pastor for more than four years.

While many priests have passed through in St. Joseph’s history, Father Oscar Winzerling is notable for moving the church in 1952. Using their own trucks and labor, parishioners moved the church about two miles down a hill to a more central downtown site.

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.

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. COURTESY ST. JOSEPH

In 1969, St. Joseph and St. Francis parishes learned that due to a priest shortage, the archdiocese would no longer assign them a full-time pastor, Rivard wrote. To fill that gap, the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Sallette, whose U.S. base is in Hartford, Connecticut, sent Father Albert Shanley, who pastored both parishes for 26 years.

Over time, St. Joseph parishioners built a basement, several additions and a tan stone façade on their church. When a heavy rainstorm hit in 1990 as the church’s roof was off for construction, members of a Lutheran church helped salvage items and offered use of their church, Rivard noted. Around that time, the parish reoriented the altar and pews from the church’s east side to the south side to accommodate more parishioners, Father Drees said.

St. Joseph Interior sanctuary. In the early 1990s, St. Joseph parish moved the church’s altar from the east wall to the south wall to expand seating.

St. Joseph Interior sanctuary. In the early 1990s, St. Joseph parish moved the church’s altar from the east wall to the south wall to expand seating. COURTESY ST. JOSEPH

In addition to the statue outside, the foster father of Jesus appears in a stained-glass window in the church. Another statue of St. Joseph stands in a niche on the east wall.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, parishioners celebrated their patron’s March 19 feast day with a potluck. During ordinary time in the Year of St. Joseph, Father Drees celebrated St. Joseph votive Masses each Wednesday (traditionally the day he is honored). He plans to continue them monthly.

Father Drees also posted monthly videos about St. Joseph on the parish’s website, stjosephtaylorsfalls.org.

In his personal meditations, Father Drees said he connects St. Joseph’s care for Jesus and Mary with the idea of providing for and protecting the parish. When talking to parish men, one of St. Joseph’s litany titles, he said, stands out: “mirror of patience.”

“I tell men I come across, especially those who need encouragement, to go to Joseph and ask for his intercession to grow as a father or husband,” he said.

Editor’s note: This is the 10th and final story in a monthly series of 10 places in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with connections to St. Joseph.