A Brief History of St. Joseph's Parish

The dawn of the twentieth century found Canton an expanding city with the number of Catholics increasing. Prior to the year 1900, Catholics in Canton, were organized into two parishes, St. John's for the English speaking and St. Peter's for the German speaking. Then in 1899, St. Mary's was founded to serve the growing Catholic population in southwest Canton. Three years later, in 1902 eight families petitioned the Bishop of Cleveland to organize still another parish to serve the growing Catholic population of the west side of Canton. With that, St. Joseph's Parish was founded and Father Clement Treiber, Pastor of the recently formed St. Mary's, was appointed founding pastor of St. Joseph's.

The parish's humble origins began with the celebration of the first mass on June 15, 1902 at Benskin's Hall on the corner of West Tuscarawas and Harrison Avenue soon after a portion of the present parish was purchased. In August 1902, ground was broken for a combination school and church, the present school building. On June 21, 1903 the building was completed and dedicated by Bishop Hortsmann of Cleveland.

The parish school began with the enrollment of 120 students and a teaching staff of 3 sisters from the Sisters of St. Joseph in Cleveland. The school reached its highest enrollment in the mid 1960's with approximately 1,200 students and a staff of 24 teachers. In early 1918, preparations were made to build the present rectory, which was completed in 1919. The rectory, in use till then was moved from its site on Columbus Avenue to Bedford Street and became the convent.

Under Father Treiber's leadership, plans were made for the construction of a large, beautiful Romanesque style Church. That dream, which is now a church of incomparable beauty, began to be realized on April 21, 1921 when ground was broken for the new church. On June 25, 1922, the basement was completed and dedicated as a temporary church. The old school building, which also served as the church for twenty years, now provided additional class- room space. The basement of the present church served as the church for the next ten years. In 1928 the upper structure of the church was begun. Despite the hardships of the Depression, the present church was completed and dedicated on May 29, 1932 by Bishop Joseph Schrembs of Cleveland.

A year later, Monsignor Treiber resigned after thirty years of service to St. Joseph's. He was succeeded by Father Anthony Mechler who served only weeks. On Apri12, 1933 Father Ralph C. Kotheimer, who was serving as Pastor of St. Paul's in North Canton, became Pastor of St. Joseph's and served as pastor until his retirement in July of 1967.

During those years the parish continued to grow and expand. In 1952, when the parish celebrated its 50th Golden Jubilee, it numbered 1,690 families with 625 students enrolled in the parish school. It was at that time the parish buildings were enlarged. In 1953, twelve new classrooms were added to the old school building and two years later four more were added. An addition was also made to the convent and office space added to the rectory. With the end of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960's, it became a time of renewal and change for Catholics everywhere. Thus St. Joseph’s joined with the Church in implementing many of the changes and the spirit of renewal envisioned by the Council.

St. Joseph's has enjoyed the dedicated service of many priests and religious, with the faith and loyalty of its many parishioners. It reached it largest parish membership in the mid 1960's with over 2,000 families.

With the beginning of a new millennium, St. Joseph's still enjoys a vigorous life. More persons than ever are involved in various parish activities and ministries. The style of parish life has surely changed over the years as the parish has endeavored to meet the challenges of a changing world and church. However, its spirit remains the same to impart to its members a sense of God's presence

~ His people, His love and His good news of salvation. ~