The West Bloomfield Historical Society was formed in 1983 and held meetings in members' homes or at the Town Hall in West Bloomfield until the acquisition of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, upon its closing.

This building, originally a Congregational church, was built by Jacob Hovey and completed in 1834. It cost two thousand two hundred dollars. Silas C. Brown had been called to the pastorate of the local Congregational church in 1838. His installation was almost immediately followed by a bitter controversy among the members. Forty members of the congregation withdrew and organized a new society installing Reverend Brown as their pastor. they built this building.

Reverend Brown lived in the house just to the east of the building. It is believed that he donated the land for this church and for the cemetery. The congregation used this building until the opposing factions became reunited.

In 1866 the building was sold to the trustees of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Society. They used the building until the simmer of 1991, when it was sold to the West Bloomfield Historical Society.

On the west side of this building there stood another large building, originally a church hall. Later it was a Select School for young ladies, and eventually a Grand Army Hall. In 1913 it was purchased by V. Griffin and moved by Fred Rigney to a spot east of the Congregational church grounds. There were living quarters upstairs. Eventually the building was made into apartments. Derwin and Elva Sackett purchased this home in June of 1950.

The stained glass windows are a source of great to the Society. Valerie Murray of Pike Stained Glass Studios believes them to be original to the building. She says the brightly colored pieces of glass in the borders were probably imported and their type is called "antique".

The colors were made while the glass was on the molten state. The color is throughout the thickness of the glass.

The remaining glass is clear glass plate. The incorporation of this type of glass and the composition of the windows make these unique examples of Early American stained glass. The colors are made by hand painting.

The West Bloomfield Historical is working hard to preserve this historic building. They have examined the needs of the community and have drawn up a floor plan for future reference. They have consulted local experts in painting, repairing, and the anticipated problems of restoring older buildings (circa 1831), while adhering to the conditions of the deed. They have attended seminars and programs offered by others on these topics, and poured any photo or description of the original building they could find. An appraisal of the condition of the stained glass windows was performed. The cost to repair the windows was staggering and discouraging. The representative suggested, however, that the windows were not the first priority. The exterior needed to be preserved first. The exterior improvements were completed in 1995.

In 2000 the windows were protected, water was installed in the building, and replicas of the badly deteriorated porch columns were installed. A photograph circa 1910 depicted a light fixture in front of the building, this was restored, as closely as possible. Extensive interior restoration was begun and included raccoon damage to the ceiling and arched doorway, removing a platform that had been installed over the existing floor and then replacing the floor when structural damage was discovered. Few photographs or documentation existed, so after the walls were scraped, patched, plastered, and sanded, paint color was chosen from a historical collection.

Church pews and a side alter had been received with the building. An undated photo depicting the center placement of the pews and right side placement of the alter was used for the placement of these items.

The building, now used year-round for meetings and programs for the public, is source of pride for all those who helped in this restoration.

Future plans include installation of a wheelchair ramp, a restroom, and a small kitchen facility.