St. Joseph's Catholic Church (1912)

The first Slovakian immigrants arrived in Tacoma in 1888. Their numbers grew quickly to more than fifty families and in 1906 they petitioned the local Catholic Bishop for a church where services could be held in their native tongue. The congregation excavated the basement and laid the foundation themselves, with many parishioners working on the building after their regular daily duties were completed. It was the first Slovak Catholic church built in the Northwest, and at the time the only Slovakian Roman Catholic parish west of the Mississippi River. The church architect is C. Frank Mahon. Mahon was the architect for Holy Rosary Church in Tacoma, as well as St. Leo's Catholic School and Sacred Heart School at 45th & McKinley Ave (now demolished).

Although construction costs for the structure are uncertain (accounts list costs varying from $10,000 to $25,000) the solidly built church would have represented a substantial investment by its parishioners. On May 19, 1912 the church was officially dedicated with a number of festivities, including a parade to the new building. Period newspaper accounts describe the Gothic styled church as "strictly modern," with an auditorium large enough to seat 500. The stained glass windows were purchased in 1935 for the church's Silver Jubilee.

St. Joseph's is an excellent example of the Gothic Revival style. The petite structure carefully utilizes the most essential elements of the style to convey solidity, respectability, and tradition. The lancet arched windows and doors, brick corbelling, set-back steeple and crenellations are all trademark Gothic details. The building is carefully proportioned with minimal detailing that might overwhelm the structure.

The church continued to hold services in Slovak through the 1930s and was one of only a handful of Catholic Churches in the United States to do so. Even when services were no longer regularly held in the Slovak language, the diocese accommodated the ethnic origins of the congregation when possible. In 1970, native Czechoslovakian Reverend Michael Lucas was installed as priest for the congregation. Lucas had taught school and served as a chaplain in the army before escaping his homeland when fell to Communist rule. He arrived in the United States in 1951 and served as an assistant at St. James Cathedral in Seattle before transferring to St. Joseph's. He remained at St. Joseph's until 1983.

Sacred Spaces: Tacoma's Historic Sacred Places. Tacoma, Washington. Historic Tacoma Press, 2009.