St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church
Follow the green arrows on the signs as you walk
St. Joseph Church is more than 150 years old! Shortly after St. Mary’s Church building burned the first time, in 1852, Catholics of Irish descent gained permission to become a mission of St. Mary’s. They first worshiped with Father Malon of St. Mary in a public hall, The Stone Block, which stands today at the northeast corner of Tremont and Erie Streets.
In 1854, a small church across South Street from the present school building was dedicated and placed under the patronage of St. Joseph, but it wasn’t until 1863 that the parish had its first resident pastor.
By 1892, the parish community outgrew its building and began construction of the present church building. Architect J.B. Vernon designed the Gothic style edifice, using the pointed arches of the windows, the sanctuary, the doorways inside, and the peaks and pinnacles of the roof and the steeple to point toward Heaven.
St. Joseph’s Church is the most recent of Massillon’s four churches to be listed on the National Register.
Directions: Turn right onto South Street and walk to the corner of First Street Southeast. Turn right onto First Street to see the front of the next church building.