The Catholic community were served by itinerant missionary priests several times a year, holding mass in private homes.

Construction of the church began that year, but the building was not completed until 1886, and was consecrated by Bishop Henry Richter of the newly formed Diocese of Grand Rapids in 1888.

[3] The St. Joseph Catholic Church is a vernacular wood-frame building, covered with clapboards, with a metal-clad gable roof and on a concrete block foundation.

A three-part tower, defined by sawtooth-cut, vertical-board frieze bands, is located in the center of one gable.

[2] The interior contains a small narthex with tongue-and-groove boarding, a rectangular nave with tray ceiling, and a polygonal apse.