History of St. Joseph's Parish - Charlton Massachusetts

In 1887, a small mission Church, known as Sacred Heart, was born and constructed in a quiet central Massachusetts community, Charlton City . The small Church stood near what was the Charlton Woolen Company.

Until 1895, the mission of Charlton was under the spiritual care of St. Mary’s Parish in Southbridge . The faith filled Catholic population in Charlton was visited only every other week. Before the turn of the century, the children of our Parishes received their religious education in Southbridge at St. Mary’s. In addition, they received their First Communion there. Children who could not easily commute to Southbridge were taught about their Faith and God by either parents.

Finally in 1900 Reverend John J. Bell was appointed Pastor in Charlton. The small parish mission was no longer under the care of St. Mary’s. At last, the people in Charlton had their own Church, which was know as Sacred Heart Church . The rectory was purchased from the Copp family, owners of the former Ashworth Mills.

The first Baptism was held on April 8, 1900 of Elias Dumas, son of Peter and Emma Dumas. The first wedding in the new parish was that of William Gillespie and Mary Mahan, on April 30, 1900. In 1901, The Sacred Heart Church, had it’s first Holy Communion class. All went on to be confirmed two years later. The religious Education program was the pride of Sacred Heart’s parents and it’s Pastor. Classes were taught in English as well as French.

For four years the people of the small mission Church worked together, worshipped together and saw another dream come true. They proved that when you “entrust your works to the Lord, your plans will succeed…”. On November 20, 1904, the small mission Church of Charlton became St. Joseph ’s Church and was dedicated at the site on the corner of Route 20 and Route 31.

Reverend M. J. Welsh, served in Charlton from 1911 until his death in 1915, and Reverend James Hussey succeeded the first Pastor, Fr. John Bell, from 1915 until 1922.

On June 4, 1923, close to the hour of midnight, tragedy struck St. Joseph ’s in the form of a fire. The Church was completely destroyed. The only structure left standing was the Church’s chimney. Motivated by a strong sense of Christian community and love for its Church the people of St. Joseph ’s moved forward to rebuild. Donations for the Church flowed generously from many of St. Joseph ’s faith filled parishioners as well as other Churches in the area. In 1925, a new Church was rededicated on the same site.

Dramatic changes in population occurred in the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s in Charlton. Our community of faith grew from 350 families in the 1920’s to over 1000 in the 1990’s. This growth put a strain on a facility hardly capable of meeting the demand. Essential Parish programs suffered as a result. In 1990 the Parish was able to rent the former City Grade School as a resource center for Parish administration and Religious Education and organizations such as the Boy and Girl Scouts.

In the early 1990’s the results of Parish wide survey indicated that the present Church facilities could not adequately accommodate the growing numbers and expanding needs of the Parish. Committees were set in place to explore options, including expanding the current facility, or building a new facility. After many meetings and much prayer it was determined that a parcel of land, in close proximity to the current Church, would best serve our needs. Hence, property was acquired on H. Putnam Extension. In 1996 Bishop Reilly blessed the new land as we began a new foundation of faith… a new Parish Church . After 5 years of fundraisers, hard work, and many, many prayers our new Church building was opened and dedicated on September 30, 2001 by the Most Rev. Daniel P. Reilly D.D., Bishop of Worcester.

A vibrant Parish, the people of St. Joseph’s continue in the tradition of caring and growing and meeting the challenges imposed by a living and loving faith, seeking to worship God and serve our neighbor in over 40 active ministries. We are a Church in Charlton, reaching out in love to those in our own community and elsewhere, seeking to build up the Kingdom of God for the 21^st century when we will celebrate 100 years as a Catholic community of faith.