Saint Joseph's Catholic Church is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

located south of

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Il ...

in the community of

Key West, Iowa Key West is an unincorporated community in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, near the extreme southern end of the city of Dubuque. Parts of the community are now within the city of Dubuque, while others are unincorporated. Owing to the presen ...

. The parish is part of the

Archdiocese of Dubuque The Archdiocese of Dubuque ( la, Archidiœcesis Dubuquensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the northeastern quarter of the state of Iowa in the United States. It includes all the Iowa counti ...

. The church is across from Mount Olivet Cemetery, one of two main Catholic cemeteries for Dubuque-area Catholics. While people from St. Joseph's parish are often buried at Mount Olivet, the cemetery is not part of the parish.

History

The parish was originally established in 1872 by Father Thomas J. O'Reilly for the Catholics living just south of Dubuque in Mosalem and Table Mound

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

s. Father James Ward was the first resident pastor. In the late 1940s another Saint Joseph's Church was established about three miles away in

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

. This led to confusion on the part of people between the two parishes; at times one parish would receive mail meant for the other. As a result, St. Joseph's in Dubuque eventually changed its name to Saint Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in the 1990s. During the 1990s the parish seriously considered demolishing the current church structure and replacing it with a new building. However the parish decided to keep their current church building, and instead make improvements to the parish school. The school mascot was the Cobras. {{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque, state=collapsed Churches in Dubuque County, Iowa

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

Religious organizations established in 1872 1872 establishments in Iowa