St. Joseph Catholic Church

The first Catholic Church established in Grant County was St. Joseph's at Blanchet on the Lexington Pike. The land for the church and the surrounding cemetery was donated by Gustave Bouscaren, owner of the Caribbean Farm near Blanchet. Donations to build the church were collected by the two Bouscaren daughters, Mary, who later became Mrs. George Dungan, and Georgina, who became Sister Gabrielle, Mistress General of the Convent of the Visitation Academy, Washington, DC.

The two girls, who did the collecting over a period of several years, began their task on St. Joseph's Feast Day, March 19. Riding horseback throughout the countryside, the girls received contributions from generous donors, both Catholic and Protestant.

Logs were cut from the Caribbean Farm and sawed into lumber at the Bouscaren mill. Labor was donated by people of the community. The church building was finished and dedicated in 1886. A large picture of St. Joseph and the Infant Jesus, painted by artist Frank Duveneck of Covington, was donated to the church by a friend of the Bouscarens.

When St. Joseph's could no longer be maintained nor protected from vandals, the alter was moved to Warsaw; the building was sold and moved to Cross Roads for the use of another church group. Today, only the concrete steps mark the site of the Church of St. Joseph's.

Published by the Sesqui-Centennial Committee 1970
150th Year of Grant County, Kentucky.

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