A group of Polish immigrants from Upper Silesia in Prussian-occupied Poland moved to this area in 1858 after a brief settlement in Karnes County, where they found prairies that could be plowed and oaks that could be felled for shelter, and they called their community, then 1.5 Mi. west, Gazeta after nearby Garcitas Creek. Traveling priests served the settlers' religious needs, while marriages, baptisms, and funerals were recorded at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Victoria, 14.5 Mi. southwest. In 1873 Frank Garvel conveyed one acre in Gazeta for a church dedicated to St. Theresa. After 1886 the settlement shifted to the town of Inez on a new railroad line, and in 1889 the Catholic Church acquired three lots there for $40, dismantled the Gazeta church, and moved it to Inez. Lumber dealer Henry C. Koontz directed its reconstruction, and Father Thomas Moczyjemba dedicated the church to St. Joseph in 1890. Father Henry Pensick became the first resident pastor in 1933 and also served mission churches at La Salle, 10.5 Mi. southeast, and Bloomington, 19 Mi. south-southwest. In 1963 a fire destroyed the frame church building and damaged the rectory, and the congregation quickly erected a new brick structure that was dedicated in 1964.