ESCANABA – The St. Joseph & St. Patrick Parish congregation has been gathering for worship in the area since 1865.

While the current church is almost 100 years old, being erected in 1938 and completed in 1939, the history of the parish goes far beyond that.

The current building is the third church to stand in its spot on the corner of First Avenue South and South Seventh Street. Both St. Joseph and St. Patrick parishes have their own lengthy timelines, as St. Patrick Church split from St. Joseph Church in 1901 and stood independent until 1997, when Bishop James Garland joined both parishes.

St. Joseph & St. Patrick also each had their own schools, along with St. Anne Catholic Church in Escanaba, which were conjoined in 1971 to create what is known today as Holy Name Catholic School.

The tall, U-shaped ceilings at St. Joseph & St. Patrick Parish Catholic church in Escanaba are meant to resemble an arc, as each parishioner is on a journey to God. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)

In 1865, the Rev. Sebastian Duroc was sent to Escanaba by Bishop Frederic Baraga as the first pastor of St. Joseph Church. St. Joseph was the first church of any denomination in Escanaba. It was also a dedicated church for the Catholics in the area, most of whom were German. The area had a significant Irish and French population as well.

Today, the church has more than 450 registered families, according to the Rev. Timothy Ferguson, pastor at St. Joseph & St. Patrick Parish since 2019.

“We have had in the last couple of years, which is wonderful, a real uptick in kids and young families,” Ferguson said.

The second St. Joseph Church building was constructed around the old building in 1873, costing $20,000. Then came St. Joseph High School on the same grounds in 1884, with a first graduating class of 11 women in 1888.

On St. Patrick’s Day in 1901, one of the German Franciscan assistant pastors, the Rev. Hubert Kalt, Order of Friars Minor or OFM, stood in the pulpit of St. Joseph Church and made disparaging remarks about the Irish parishioners, who walked out of the sermon and soon after voted to separate from St. Joseph Church.

St. Joseph & St. Patrick Parish Catholic church in Escanaba has Mass at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays; 9 a.m. Wednesdays through Fridays; 4 p.m. Saturdays; and 8:30 and 10 a.m. Sundays. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)

“That left St. Joseph being pretty exclusively German. It was never designated as a German parish, but it was pretty exclusively German,” Ferguson said.

The new cornerstone for St. Patrick Church was laid May 25, 1902, and was built sometime thereafter, at a total cost of $72,279. Funding came from the working class in the congregation, which would become a point of contention later when the church closed. Many members of the community were not pleased with closing the church of the working class and using a new church funded by the Bonifas family.

Towards the end of the Great Depression in 1937, William and Catherine Bonifas paid for construction of the church that stands today, as well as the William Bonifas Auditorium and Gymnasium, which was also used for Masses.

Absolutely no expense was spared when building the new church. The marble pillars and red-colored marble toward the front of the parish were imported from Italy, most likely on a ship that came right into the Escanaba harbor. There are various marble statues of saints – of course, St. Joseph and St. Patrick included – and intricate stained-glass windows line the walls.

“The idea behind (the design), I think, was based on a real solid understanding of human nature. You’re going to be distracted,” Ferguson said. “In this place, if your mind starts wandering and you start looking around, there’s always going to be something that brings you back. It feeds the senses.”

St. Joseph, middle, and St. Patrick, right, can be seen toward the front-right of the St. Joseph & St. Patrick Parish Catholic church in Escanaba. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)

St. Joseph & St. Patrick Parish also has three pipe organs, one of which has pipes from the St. Patrick Church.

In 1997, Bishop Garland noticed a declining number of priests and even a decline in attendance at church. Therefore, on June 30 of that year, St. Patrick and St. Joseph were combined into a new parish.

“I think in the long term this was the right decision. (St. Joseph Church) is solidly built. It has been very well maintained,” Ferguson said. “We don’t have a lot of ongoing maintenance issues. Probably in the next four or five years, we’re going to replace the roof. There are a little bit of leaks here and there.”

While both church buildings remained open until 2002, the St. Patrick Church closed that July and the complex was sold in March 2003.

Since Ferguson arrived in 2019, the church’s parking lot was redone. After the church’s convent and St. Joseph School both were torn down in about 1973, the church’s parking lot was installed over the remnants of the foundation underground.

The stained glass windows in the St. Joseph & St. Patrick Parish Catholic church in Escanaba are each adorned with significant symbols, such as the fleur-de-lis, which is a lily flower associated with the Virgin Mary and purity. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)

“… They just paved over it without digging out the foundation. So the parking lot was settling,” Ferguson said. “When we did it this time, we had them dig it all out and brought in fill dirt. It cost money, but they did a really good job. And like I said, I think people appreciate that now we don’t have to go over potholes to get to a parking space.”

While Ferguson expected the work would take about four years to pay off, it happened in just two years. He credits the parishioners’ generosity for that.

“I love being a priest. I love the life here. I love my people,” Ferguson said. “I’ve been here now long enough that some of the kids that I baptized are getting ready for their first communion, which is a beautiful thing.”

St. Joseph & St. Patrick Parish Catholic church in Escanaba has Mass at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays; 9 a.m. Wednesdays through Fridays; 4 p.m. Saturdays; and 8:30 and 10 a.m. Sundays.

The marble inside St. Joseph & St. Patrick Parish Catholic church was imported from Italy in the late 1930s, most likely on a ship that came into Escanaba's harbor. St. Anthony of Padua holding Jesus as a baby stands to the right of Jesus toward the front of the parish. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)