Directions to St. Joseph Church
St. Joseph History
The St. Joseph Church Faith Community celebrated 120 years in 2011. St. Joseph was founded in Midland, Maryland in June 1891. Blessing of the cornerstone for the original church occurred June 28, 1891 and the first mass was celebrated at Christmas Midnight Mass 1891. In 1898 Fr. Luigi Sartori became the first pastor and soon after in 1899 the parish expanded to include St. Joseph School taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
A fire in August of 1952 destroyed the rectory and soon after the church building was in poor condition. In the fall of 1963, Rev. Joseph Fuller began working with Cardinal Shehan and the Archdiocese Building Commission on the building of a new school, church and rectory. Ground breaking for the new facility occurred on Labor Day, 1965 and the dedication was held in October 1967. Due to lack of enrollment, the school was closed in 1972. With the closing of the school and the departure of the sisters the convent was demolished in 1993. In 1991, St. Joseph celebrated its 100th anniversary with a week of festivities.
The former school building was renovated in the 1980’s by the St. Joseph Sodality to serve as the parish hall. St. Joseph now hosts the religious education program and the youth ministry for Divine Mercy Parish.
