St. Joseph's

The Reverend Martin Kundic was the first priest to hold regular services in Waukesha. Mass was celebrated in the house of John Gaspar on Main Street and the current gothic stone church was completed in 1888 under the guidance of Father Wm. G. Miller. Solomon Juneau of Milwaukee donated the land to St. Joseph's Church in 1843. There was a log house built by Mr. Juneau on the property and it was converted to a church.

In 1844, Rev. Kundic was appointed pastor of St. Joseph's Church, and that year, the corner stone for the little stone church was laid out and completed in 1848. In 1883 St. Joseph's was incorporated under the laws of the state of Wisconsin. One month later, the Reverend G. Miller arrived and stayed for 47 years. The present gothic stone church was built in 1888. Architect Adolphus Druidlng of Chicago designed it in High Victorian Gothic Style with its emphasis on the vertical. The exterior is rock raced, randomly coursed limestone, with multiple rose windows, lancet windows, and multiple gables and spires. Each gable is topped with a cross. The layout is asymmetric, with a large tower on one side of the main entrance, rising to a tall steeple toppled by a cross. The old stone church was remodeled into a parish hall.

According to church records, in 1920, three families of Mexican decent arrived in Waukesha and became the first Hispanic members of St. Joseph's Church. These families were Jose and Antonia Melendez, Merced and Nicolas Gonzalez, as well as Ursula Melendez and Leonardo Banda, whose subsequent marriage became the first Mexican American marriage at the church. Today the Hispanic presence has grown to include Puerto Rican, Nicaraguan, and people from many Lain American countries.

Father Dulek established a regular mass in Spanish at which time Our Lady Guadalupe's Statue was installed, and th Guadalupe Society was formed. December has come to be the month for celebrating Catholic Hispanic Heritage at St. Joseph Catholic Church.

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