St. Joseph School in 1885


St. Joseph School began as a log cabin in 1832, one year after the parish was founded. It is believed to be the first parochial school west of the Alleghenies. The early parishioners felt that a parochial school was necessary to the future of the parish. They firmly believed that intellectual knowledge must join hand in hand with moral and spiritual education.

The first school was near the site of our present church and was staffed by one teacher, Joseph Schroeder. Between 1875-1885, the school was expanded and moved to the west side of the church. It was still staffed by lay teachers until 1885 when the Sisters of Notre Dame of Cleveland began teaching here. The Dominican nuns followed next, until the number of pupils decreased so dramatically that only one lay teacher was needed for all the students. The Sisters of Notre Dame returned in 1911.

In 1922, Father George Reber put up the original section of our current school building at a cost of about $50,000. Another addition was made to the building in 1958 under the direction of Fr. Dierker. The Primary Building was built in 1962 during Fr. Pertz’ pastorate.





St. Joseph School in 1922