BONNE TERRE HISTORY

The St. Joseph Church is the house of worhip for Catholics in the St. Joseph Parish. The parish and a church were established in Bonne Terre in 1872 as a mission of Old Mines. Before the Civil War the congregation was housed in a small church just north of town. It was assigned priests from nearby parishes. The first church in Bonne Terre was built by Father Daily in 1873. This structure burned down in 1879 and was reconstructed in 1881. 1879 is also the year St. Joseph became an independent parish. The Desloge Lead Company donated the land for the second church and contributed to its construction. Rev. E. J. Dempsey, the first resident priest, supervised construction of this church. To the church were added a school building in 1885 and a priest's residence in 1888. In 1908 the parish began construction of a building to replace the wooden frame church. It was not finished until 1916. During that time the congregation worshipped in the basement of the new church under a temporary roof. A combination school and convent were built at the site in 1906. This was staffed by the Ursuline Sisters until its closing in 1969. A new parochial school was built in 1922. For more information, see "St. Joseph, Bonne Terre, Missouri 1873-1973", self published, 1973. This book is available in the reference section of the library