St. Joseph or Saint Joseph is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in Riverdale Township, Kossuth County,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 61.

Geography

The community is located in southern Kossuth County, in the southeast part of Riverdale Township, south of Algona along

US 169 U.S. Route 169 (US 169) is a north-south U.S highway that currently runs for 966 miles (1,555 km) from the city of Virginia, Minnesota, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, at Memorial Drive. Route description Oklahoma US 169 is a major north–sou ...

very close to the Humboldt County line. It is north of

Humboldt Humboldt may refer to: People * Alexander von Humboldt, German natural scientist, brother of Wilhelm von Humboldt * Wilhelm von Humboldt, German linguist, philosopher, and diplomat, brother of Alexander von Humboldt Fictional characters * Hu ...

via US 169. Iowa Highway 408 leads east from St. Joseph to Lu Verne. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the St. Joseph CDP has an area of , all land. It is bordered to the east by the East Fork of the

Des Moines River The Des Moines River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately long from its farther headwaters.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe N ...

History

One of the earliest histories states "the town was never laid out, as far as the records show, but grew by evolution." The settlement of St. Joseph was formerly known as "Hale". St. Joe began its official existence in 1865 when Oscar Hale, the first landowner of the area, started a post office and hotel. The new community then became known as Hale's post office or Hale. In 1870, George Hollenbeck came from

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and started a

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

. Casper Waldbillig moved from

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

in 1878 and opened a saloon. One of the early settlers was John Devine, who owned a large herd of cattle and was nicknamed the "

cattle baron Cattle baron is a historic term for a local businessman and landowner who possessed great power or influence through the operation of a large ranch with many beef cattle. Cattle barons in the late 19th century United States were also sometimes re ...

". Many of the early family names are still found in the vicinity today. In 1871, Gregory Hollenbeck and Margaret Schreiber Hollenbeck donated land on which to build a church in Hale. Father Lenihan was the circuit pastor at that time, and the first church was built in 1872 at a cost of about $1,800. St. Joseph's population was 72 in 1902, and 100 in 1925. Since the town of St. Joe is small and unincorporated, the community's life and activities revolve almost entirely around their church and school. In 1996, the parish numbered 141 families. The parish school had 87 students attending grades K through 12.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2020, there were 51 people, 16 households, and 15 families residing in the community. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 59.2 inhabitants per square mile (22.9/km²). There were 23 housing units at an average density of 26.7 per square mile (10.3/km²). The

racial Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...

makeup of the community was 96.1%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.0% Black or African American, 0.0% Native American, 0.0% Asian, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.0% from other races and 3.9% from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

persons of any race comprised 5.9% of the population. Of the 16 households, 6.2% of which had children under the age of 18 living with them, 87.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 0.0% were cohabitating couples, 12.5% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present and 0.0% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. 6.2% of all households were non-families. 6.2% of all households were made up of individuals, 0.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years old or older. The median age in the community was 61.2 years. 19.6% of the residents were under the age of 20; 0.0% were between the ages of 20 and 24; 15.7% were from 25 and 44; 37.3% were from 45 and 64; and 27.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the community was 35.3% male and 64.7% female.

References

{{Kossuth County, Iowa Census-designated places in Kossuth County, Iowa 1865 establishments in Iowa Populated places established in 1865