St. Joseph

The First Indication of the organizing of a congregation at Cold Spring is found in 1870. The baptismal records of the parish for that year record seven baptisms, administered by Reverend Caspar Wiese, Chaplain of St. Joseph Orphanage.

The first church at Cold Spring was a small frame, structure, erected on the site of the present church. The first parish committee consisted of Wolfgang Bessler, Samuel Hoffman, Rudolph Kroger and John Holtz. Bishop Toebbe dedicated Cold Spring's first church.

A parish school, a frame structure, was opened within the next few years. Brother Joseph Merschmann, Brother of Mary, who lived at St. Joseph Orphanage, and who later was ordained a priest of the Diocese, was the first teacher.

The first marriage recorded in the records of the church occurred on December 26, 1872, contracted between Leopold Speier and Mary Bessler. The earliest parish records show such family names as Alerding, Bushke, Buttner Fueglein, McGrath, Stoeckle, Bessler, Hoffman, Kroger, Holtz, Steffen, Thoeny, Toles, Twehues, Hill, Glenkler, Betsch, Barthalter, Minshall, Simon, Brausch, Saelinger, Fahrenholtz, Haas, and Ruschman.

In 1881, Reverend Herman Kramer, the newly appointed pastor of St. Joseph Parish, made plans for a new church to supplant the little frame structure. The clay for the bricks was dug from the slope south of the present church, near St. Joseph Orphanage cemetery; and the bricks were baked in kilns erected near that site. The new church, which still serves the needs of the parish, was dedicated by Bishop Toebbe on Sunday, October 8, 1882. It was forty by ninety-two feet, having a spacious sanctuary and a chapel opening up from the Gospel side for the Sisters. The congregation at that time numbered sixty-eight families.

Bishop Toebbe arrived in Cold Spring in a carriage on October 8, accompanied by some of the clergy. He was received by St. Martin's Men Society and St. Aloysius' Young Men Society of St. Mary Parish, Alexandria; St. Joseph and St. Aloysius Societies of Cold Spring, accompanied by the Knights of St. George of Covington, and a full band and guard of honor. The cavalcade made a picturesque appearance. Following the dedication ceremonies by Bishop Toebbe, Father Kramer offered a Solemn High Mass in the new church in the presence of the Bishop. The choir of Corpus Christi Parish, Newport, sang the Mass. After the Mass, Bishop Toebbe confirmed a class of twelve.

In 1882, Reverend Francis X. Hund succeeded Father Kramer, serving the parish for the next seventeen years. From the material of the old church, Father Hund erected the first parish house. In 1892, he built a two-story frame school to replace the original one. During the pastorate of Reverend George Kaufman (1909-1928), the first rectory was replaced by the present brick residence. The Golden Jubilee of the parish was observed on September 18, 1921. The celebration was a home-coming event for many former members of the parish. Towards the end of Father Kaufman's pastorate, he was engaged in formulating plans for a new brick school building, but months of illness and finally death brought his pastorate at St. Joseph Parish to a close.

Reverend Joseph Broerman, who became pastor in March, 1929, took up the task of building a new school. A one-story red brick building was erected on a large campus about a quarter of a mile south of the church. In 1921, Reverend Leo J. Streck was appointed pastor of Cold Spring. Seven years later the interior of the church was redecorated and the main altar was reconstructed and provided with a canopy. On September 23, 1945, under the direction of Father Streck, the parish observed its Diamond Jubilee. Reverend Lawrence N. Leinheuser, the present pastor, assumed the pastorate of St. Joseph Parish on September 4, 1948.

In 1948, a Veterans' Village, which in October, 1950 received the name of "Crestview," was developed within the boundaries of St. Joseph Parish. A larger school became an immediate necessity. Father Leinheuser undertook the task, and drew up plans for an ultra-modern school structure, so designed that additions might be made for future needs. The new school was erected on a six acre site, about three hundred yards from Alexandria Pike, and about a hundred yards south of the existing school. Ground was broken on November 21, 1949, the cornerstone being laid on September 15, 1950. The new building, a one-story brick structure, housed five classrooms, a combination auditorium-gymnasium, and a teachers' room. The school was dedicated on May 14, 1951. Sister of Notre Dame conduct the parish school . 

excerpted from History of the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, on the Occasion of the Centenary of the Diocese, 1853-1953, by Rev. Paul E. Ryan