St. Joseph Parish was founded by German immigrants in the late 1860′s.  The men who helped form the parish were mostly farmers and those who made their living working in the area’s stone quarries.  The name was chosen by these pioneers, each named Joseph:  Joseph Leiser, Joseph Bohle, Joseph Wittenkeller, Joseph Wierschem and Joseph Drymiller. 

Previous to the founding of St. Joseph Parish, St. Dennis of Lockport had been established in 1837 by Irish immigrants.  As Lockport history tells us, St. Joseph was said to be formed by German immigrants and was known as the “German Church” and St. Dennis as the “Irish Church.”  Some people in town still refer to the churches in the same way.

The cornerstone of St. Joseph Church was first laid in 1868.  Stone for the church was cut and hauled by wagon from the Boyer and Sanger quarries by John Hills.  The original walls and tower are virtually the same as when erected. In 1918, on the Golden Jubilee of the parish, the sanctuary and sacristy were added to the original structure.  Below this was the basement area, which served as a parish hall for many years.

St. Joseph School was established in the middle or late 1880′s when the parish was staffed by Benedictine priests from Chicago.  Benedictine Sisters, also from Chicago, were the first teachers in the new school.  In 1892, the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, headquartered in Joliet and now in Mokena, took over the administration of the school and have remained to this day.

The original school building, located behind the church, was demolished when the first of the present school buildings was built in 1952.  The second addition was completed in 1961.  In 1964, the three-floor structure was built and included a 400 seat chapel, a hall and kitchen.

In 1994, the parish and school community came together to raise funds to build a 10,000 square foot Activity Center to accommodate the many activities of the St. Joseph community. The Activity Center includes a full sized basketball court, bleachers, kitchen/concession area, stage and 2 meeting room. In 1998-2000, parent volunteers rewired the school for modern phone and internet access in every classroom. In 2002, parents and the parish community once again collaborated to build a state of the art Technology Center within the school. The technology center is equipped with 33 desktop PC workstations and overhead projector system.