The first Mass celebrated in Farmington was in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Lang at 223 East Columbia Street in 1862.  Fifteen people attended the service.
At that time, the population of Farmington was only 600.  

The present site of St. Joseph Catholic Church was accepted in 1869.  The first church, a frame structure, was built under the direction of Father Daley, pastor of the church at French Village.  The frame church cost $600 and seated 80 people.  The site on which the church was built was a gift of Mr. & Mrs. John F. Bush.  Mr. Bush was a Missouri State Senator, elected in 1862.

The first rectory (parish house) was built in 1890, donations were accepted for the building and our first resident pastor was Father Henry J. Shaw (1890-1892).  The canonical establishment of St. Joseph as a Roman Catholic parish of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis was July 27, 1890.  The rectory was a two-story frame building and was in use until the present rectory was built in 1969 under the pastorate of Father Jerome Buchheit.








Fr. Shaw was succeeded by the Rev. Fr. John M. Kern in 1892.  The Rev. Fr. James Toomey was appointed pastor on Aug 14, 1897 and to his untiring energy and zest the parish owes much of what it is today.  With a very small and scattered congregation he laid a very firm foundation for the future growth.  In 1897 he opened a school in the sacristy of the church, which he taught himself.  



Around 1900, ground was obtained and the front section of the convent was erected.  The first nuns to teach at St. Joseph’s were Dominicans from New York who came in 1903.  They left after two years and Fr. Toomey resumed teaching the pupils, now numbering 100.  Fr. Toomey died in April 1906.  The Rev. Fr. Bernard Stolte succeeded Fr. Toomey and secured the services of two lay teachers from St. Louis to continue the school.  After 15 months, Fr. Stolte was transferred and was succeeded by the Rev. Fr. Joseph Collins in October 1907.   

Fr. Collins procured the Ursuline Sisters to teach.  Parish enthusiasm grew and plans were made for a new church.  In 1911 a contract was signed for the building of the present Romanesque church.  Ground breaking took place March 17, 1912.  A total cost for the completed structure was $17,000.

Under the pastorate of Father Joseph A. Collins, pastor from October 1907 through November 1914, our present beautiful church was built on the site of the first church. Archbishop Glennon, bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, dedicated the church on October 13, 1912.  The contractor was a parishioner, John McCarthy, later known as the McCarthy Brothers Construction Company.  They also built our present St. Francois County Courthouse in 1927.

In 1914, Fr. Collins was succeeded by the Rev. Fr. John R. Morgan.   At this time there were so few children in school that it was closed the following year.  Miss Willa Ryan (now Mrs. William Meyer), Miss Effie Lawrence, and Miss Genevieve Huss instructed the children for First Holy Communion.  In 1918 Fr. Morgan joined the U.S. Army and the next pastor was the Rev. Fr. John Ryan who reopened the school, secured the services of the Loretta Sisters, and paid off the debt on the church property.  

The Rev. Fr. John S. Kelley came to Farmington in 1922 succeeded by the Rev. Fr. Skaer in 1924.  A committee composed of Fr. Skaer, B.T. Gentges, Tom Burks, and Edward Effrein secured the present pipe organ January 20, 1931. A recital with the new organ was held March 29, 1931.  Cecelia Gentges was organist from about 1922 to 1955.

The Rev. Fr. Edward O’Toole was assigned to Farmington in 1934 and during his time the present New Calvary Cemetery was purchased.  Fr. O’Toole started drawing plans for a new school and rectory, but was transferred to Creve Coeur October 1, 1938.  The Rev. Fr. William Glynn was assigned as pastor in 1939 but stayed only six months.

The Rev. Fr. Robert McKeon was appointed April 13, 1939 and through his efforts Carleton College at 606 Overton was purchased.  Our elementary school, which until then had been conducted in the convent building located on the north side of the church was transferred to the Carleton College Building and was later expanded to include the high school grades.  The first high school graduation was held June 1, 1952 with the School Sisters of Notre Dame in charge.   

Fr. McKeon was replaced in 1949 by the Rev. Fr. Joseph Gottwald and through his efforts the present grade school building at 501 Ste. Genevieve Avenue was erected at a cost of $262,000 and dedicated on Oct. 2, 1960. Fr. Gottwald was replaced by the Rev. Fr. William Burke who assumed the responsibility of retiring the debt incurred by the new school building.

The Rev. Fr. Jerome Buchheit was appointed pastor April 1, 1967.  During his tenure the church was carpeted and air-conditioned, and the present rectory was built.  Spiraling costs of education and dwindling student enrollment, especially from neighboring parishes, brought the operation of St. Joseph High School into an impossible financial situation; and in the spring of 1969 the decision was made to close it in June of that year. This provided the opportunity for expansion of the elementary school so that there were separate rooms for each class and adequate teachers.

The Rev. Fr. Thomas F. Albrecht, along with the Rev. Fr. Robert H. Babka as associate pastor, was, on June 5, 1974, given the responsibility for the spiritual care of St. Joseph’s parish family.  During Fr. Albrecht’s administration, the Carleton College building was sold and the classes were moved from that building to the school building on Ste. Genevieve Avenue.  The seventh and eighth grade classes were moved to the convent building on the north side of the church.  The Sisters who were living in the convent moved to a house at 119 South Carleton, which was rented for them from Clarence Layton. 

During Fr. Donald Rau’s administration, the convent building became unusable for holding classes and the seventh grade was moved to the grade school cafeteria and the eighth grade held classes in the basement of the rectory.  Because of the critical situation, Fr. Rau sought and obtained permission to add two rooms onto the present grade school building.  Before construction began, Fr. Rau was transferred to St. Louis.   He was succeeded by the Rev. Fr. Jerome O. Reisch on June 14, 1978.

Through Fr. Reisch’s efforts, groundbreaking for the new addition took place on Nov. 12, 1978.  Funeral masses were celebrated here and in St. Louis and he was buried in St. Peter and Paul’s Cemetery in St. Louis on Nov. 25, 1978.  Fr. Babka again resumed temporary administration of the parish until the arrival of the Rev. Fr. Robert L. Corbett, who took up pastoral duties on Feb. 14, 1979. The old convent building was demolished in July of 1979.  The seventh and eighth grade classes of the new school addition began with the 1979-80 school year.  In May of 1980 the St. Joseph Parish Council was formed and began regular meetings.  Special Ministers of the Eucharist were commissioned on June 15, 1980 to serve our parish as we embraked on renewing oursleves in the light of the Second Vatican Council.

Father John B. McEntee assumed pastoral duties on June 15, 1981.  He had the church renovated and redecorated in 1983, changed the stairway to the choir which made possible the addition of a "Cry" room equipped with sound, and enlarged the confessional so that face-to-face confession is available as well as confession in the traditional manner. The organ purchased in 1931 was completely renovated.  The tabernacle in the beautiful marble altar was again used for the Blessed Sacarament. The school cafeteria was also enlarged and two multi-purpose rooms were added to the school.  The Carleton entrance of the school was remodeled to include a vestibule with entrances to the cafeteria, the kitchen and gymnasium.  This last school addition was dedicated March 6, 1988 by Bishop George Gottwald (brother of our former pastor, Father Joseph Gottwald).

The first Assistant Pastor for St. Joseph was Father Louis P. Dierker.  He was succeeded by Fathers Roland Gannon, William Regan, Lambert Hrdlicka, Richard Suren, Kenneth Jaas, Robert Ottoline, John B. McEntee, Albert A. Rehme, John J. Johnson, Robert Babka, Frank Koeninger, Raymond J. Oge and John D. Bolderson.

The parish of Saint Joseph has been served by 26 pastors since July 1890 and 21 associate pastors since 1940.  Our present pastor, Father Thess, came to Saint Joseph's in June 2018.  Our parish family consists of 600 families (about 1,600 people).  A new Parish Center was built in 2002.  Our strategic pastoral plan for the future consists of additions to the school and expansion of the church.

Our work may be summed up in our parish mission statement:

"We are called by Our Lord Jesus Christ, to be His church and live His gospel.  We strive to fulfill our baptismal calling by prayer, worship, teaching and sharing our faith, and serving others.  Guided by the Holy Spirit and through our patron saint, St. Joseph, we commit ourselves to the responsible stewardship of all God's gifts."

St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church has been proud to be a part of the history of Farmington, Missouri.  We commit ourselves to be a vital and viable part of its journey into the future.
 

A special thank you to Francis Carrow for many of the historical photos and written history that have been used on this site.

Additional Sources:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mostfran/church/religious_bond.htm