the church was founded by german immigrants. on october 25, 1868 when a reported crowd of 20,000 people, including president andrew johnson, came to lay the cornerstone. the architect was from cologne, germany and modeled st. joseph's design after the cologne cathedral. the church was constructed of brown stone from hershey, pennsylvania and cost $75,000 to build. it was dedicated on january 18, 1891. masses were originally said in latin (as it was everywhere before 1964) with homilies in german until italian immigrant stonemasons working on expansion of the capitol began joining the congregation. the church underwent an extensive renovation and restoration beginning in 2002.