St. Joseph was founded by German Catholic immigrants who migrated to Florida from Minnesota. In March 1883, Andrew Barthle visited the area, and in June 1883 his older brother, Bernard A. Barthle, established the first permanent home. Andrew settled across from Bernard in 1885. First known as the Barthle Settlement, it was soon renamed the St. Joseph Settlement after the town in Minnesota from which they had emigrated. By 1888, Charles Barthle, Andrew’s younger brother, and other families including the Blommels, Boettingers, Buttweilers, Fritzlers, Gerners, Nathes, and Zierdens had joined the community. In July 1888, these pioneer families acquired five acres of land from the Plant Investment Company and erected a small frame building called Jubilee Chapel to serve as a school and chapel. On October 1, 1888, Father Gerald Pilz, the Benedictine pastor of the parish in San Antonio, dedicated the building, celebrated the first Mass, and named the parish for the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On the same day, the school opened with Bernard A. Barthle as its first teacher. In September 1889, the Benedictine Sister of Holy Name Convent began teaching at St. Joseph School. After a church building was constructed in 1892, Jubilee Chapel continued to serve as the schoolhouse until 1918. A devastating freeze around the turn of the century left the pioneer farming families unable to support the school, and they asked the county to assume financial responsibility for it. Except for the years 1918-1921, the Benedictine sisters continued as the school’s teachers until it closed in 1981. In 1918, the county purchased an acre of land next to the church property and erected a one-room frame school building there, adding a second room in 1924. After St. Joseph Public School closed, the parish bought the building and property for Sacred Heart Daycare. The original Sacred Heart Church was replaced in 1978 and was constructed by the St. Joseph community as in pioneer years. In 1889, Sacred Heart Cemetery was established on land donated by August Gerner. The St. Joseph Post Office operated from 1893 to 1918 before transferring to Dade City in 1918.