St. Joseph was founded in 1847. The origin of the parish can be traced to a petition sent to the bishop on May 6 of that year requesting permission to build a church. The early history of the parish is not well documented, but it appears that the frame church was built in 1847 and the first Mass was celebrated on Christmas Day of that year. The congregation at that time consisted both of Irish and Germans. Mass was celebrated once a month by a German priest from St. Peter, Butler and once a month by an Irish priest from St. Patrick, Sugar Creek and, beginning about 1861, from St. Patrick, Brady's Bend.
In 1863, the first resident pastor was assigned to St. Joseph. By 1872, the congregation grew to a point that a new, larger church was needed. Construction of a brick church was begun in that year, about 100 yards from the original church, with the bricks made by members of the congregation on the church grounds. The completed church was dedicated on June 28, 1874.
The first two pastors of the parish were able to speak both German and English. The pastor of St. Joseph at the time the new church was dedicated could only speak English, however. The German congregation requested permission to form a separate parish using the old church. The bishop granted permission and on July 18, 1877, the old church was rededicated as St. Joseph (German) Church.
This church continued to serve the congregation for over a century. It has been remodeled several times and, in 1954, escaped unscathed a tornado that struck North Oakland. On January 16, 1966, St. Joseph reunited with St. Joseph (German) parish. The St. Joseph (German) church was closed and used as a receiving chapel for St. Joseph Cemetery.
As part of the diocesan-wide Parish Reorganization and Revitalization, a determination was made in 1993 that the parish would be joined with nearby Mater Dolorosa parish in Chicora. While St. Joseph remained an independent parish, it shared a priest with Mater Dolorosa.
With the turn of the century, trends in the Diocese of Pittsburgh began to reveal a decline in Mass attendance and sacramental participation. At the same time, the number of priests available for parish ministry also began to decline.
To address these challenges, Bishop David Zubik announced on April 12, 2015 a new diocesan initiative, On Mission for The Church Alive!, a consultative strategic planning process designed to foster viable, sustainable and vibrant parishes. As part of this process, the Bishop, in consultation with the faithful, began to consider new models of parish life based on pastoral needs, financial and temporal resources and available clergy.
In 2018, following the period of consultation, parishes were grouped together and served by a single clergy team to eventually form one new parish.
During this transition period, St. Joseph Parish remained an independent parish while sharing clergy and staff and eventually publishing a joint bulletin with the other parishes. This ended on January 4, 2021 when St. Joseph Parish merged with Mater Dolorosa Parish, Chicora and St. Wendelin Parish, Carbon Center to form the new St. Clare of Assisi Parish. As part of the merger St. Joseph Church remained open as part of the new parish.