The history of St. Joseph’s parish began in the year 1922, during the postwar period following World War l. The Archbishop of Baltimore, Most Reverend Michael J. Curley, approved the founding of the church in Glenarden.
The new town of Glenarden, established during the postwar period of expansion of the Washington metropolitan area, was a Negro community that boasted its mayor, town clerk, council, police and fire departments. However, the Catholic residents of the area missed one factor. It was their own church. Until this time, they attended services at Bowie, Seat Pleasant, Deanwood and Mitchellville.
In 1922, the Catholic residents of the area and Father Francis A. Schwallenberg, Pastor of St Margaret’s at Seat Pleasant, raised funds to purchase an attractive five-acre site on what is now Piedmont Avenue. Plans for the new church formed with the acquisition of that property.