The emergence of this church is associated with Catholic services held by itinerant missionaries in the homes of predominantly Irish settlers located along the Texas Gulf Coast in the late 1840s. The oldest written record of St. Joseph's Catholic Church dates to 1876. The first church structure, built in 1891, became the site of regular services by the Rev. Raymond Monclus in 1893. St. Mary's Academy, opened by the Sisters of Divine Providence here in 1896, was replaced by St. Joseph's Parochial School in 1931. A new church building was erected in 1992 to serve a growing membership.