St. Joseph was founded in 1877 as a German ethnic parish. The origin of the parish, however, can be traced back to 1847. In that year, the parish of St. Joseph, North Oakland, was founded. The original parish comprised a congregation that included both Irish and Germans. Before the parish had a resident pastor, it was served both by German speaking clergy from St. Peter, Butler and English speaking clergy from either St. Patrick, Sugar Creek or St. Patrick, Brady's Bend. The first resident pastors assigned to the parish spoke both German and English.
However, in the 1870's an English speaking only pastor was assigned to St. Joseph. In 1874, the parish built a new church. Three years later, the German congregation petitioned for and received permission to create a separate parish. They took over the closed, original church and the building was rededicated on July 18, 1877 and was also named St. Joseph.
This church continued to serve the congregation for over a century. It had been remodeled several times and, in 1954, escaped unscathed a tornado that struck North Oakland. On January 16, 1966, St. Joseph (German) reunited with St. Joseph (English) 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.