The complex encompasses four buildings as well as a large parish cemetery. The main church is astuccoed stone structure, painted yellow, with the pedimented gable of the facade pierced by the church's steeple. The other buildings consist of a rectory, convent, and former school.[3]
While there was a strong Catholic presence in the Wilmington area since 1813,[6] Catholic masses were relegated to traveling priests at private homes and in the local manufacturing mills. Irish mills workers began petitioning the Diocese of Philadelphia for their own church in the region starting in the late 1830s. They were supported in their efforts by theDu Pont family, who contributed financial assets and political pressure to the establishment of the parish. The original church of St. Joseph was built in February 1841[7] by the Duponts for Irish and Italian Catholic workers at theE.I.DuPont de Nemours & Co. The land was originally granted byCharles I. du Pont, who also served on the original board of Trustees along withAlfred du Pont,Henry du Pont, Peter N. Brennan, Edward Dougherty, Charles Dougherty, and Michael Dougherty. The church itself was dedicated the following winter in December 1842 byFrancis Kenrick,Bishop of Philadelphia.
Additions were made to the church structure in 1848 under Fr. John Walsh to accommodate 550 parishioners. In 1853, a house on the campus burned down and was rebuilt with the assistance of Amelia du Pont, who converted the building into a convent, thereafter inviting theSisters of St. Joseph to occupy the grounds and open a parochial school through the parish. The parish school, which originally occupied the church basement, was moved in 1855 into its own building.
The parish house was destroyed in 1866 during a fire originating from the roof. The school was also shut down during this period as the Sisters of St. Joseph were recalled byJames Frederick Wood, Archbishop of Philadelphia. The school would re-open under the direction of the sisters of theOrder of St. Francis, as well as lay teachers from the parish. It would remain in operation under the sisters until the spring of 1972, when it was permanently shut down due to decreased attendance. The sisters have since vacated the campus to attend to their educational social mission elsewhere. Additional repairs and alterations to the church were made in 1878, 1941 and 1950, so much so that the present form displays very little of the original 1841 church structure. It was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1976,[1] a marker was placed on the campus in 2016 by the State of Delaware.
Rev. Bernard E. McCabe,OSA:[8] 1841–1842, previously built St. Malachi's Church in Coatesville (d. 1857) (killed after falling asleep while reading with a candle)[9]
