History - The Start of St. Joseph's Prep

Fr. Greaton's residence and small chapel in center city soon became surrounded by the growing city. The Jesuits decided to open a college to serve its population. In 1851, St. Joseph’s College opened in the buildings of St. Joseph’s Parish off Willings Alley, just a couple of blocks from Independence Hall. By then a permanent church had replaced the old Chapel attached to the Jesuit Residence. Over the years, two additional stories had been added to Fr. Greaton’s residence. The College, which consisted largely of a preparatory department, held class in these rooms.

On September 15, 1851, ninety-five students greeted Fr. Felix Barbelin, the first President of St. Joseph’s College, for their first day of class. The founding of the school was chartered by the State of Pennsylvania when it incorporated the school under the title of "The St. Joseph's College In The City of Philadelphia" on January 29, 1852.

The order of the day for these early students was very detailed. All had Mass at 8:00am and classes began at 8:30am. These early classes were probably Latin or Greek. At 10:25am Mathematics class began. At lunch time, students were given until 2:00pm to return to class because many of them had far to go to get their lunch. In the afternoon, students were in German, French, and Classical Studies until school ended at 5:00pm. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons there was no school. Catechism was Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. On Mondays students were to present a ticket from their own church indicating that they had been to confession on Saturday.

There were strict regulations that the students had to follow as members of the St. Joseph's community. The students were to be polite with their teachers and friendly with their classmates. The regulations stressed neatness and directed the students in their hair styles, dress, and state of their desks. There were strict rules about silence in the chapel, classrooms, and hallways. The students were aware that they were to go home directly after classes and not to play in the neighborhood. They were also informed that study should occur form 6:00 - 8:00pm every night and 6:00 - 7:00am before they arrived at school each day.

Within three years the school offered a commercial as well as a classical course and was bursting at the seams. The old part of the city was becoming more commercial and less residential, so the college purchased an unoccupied parish school building farther west and north at Filbert and Juniper Streets, near today's City Hall. The move to Filbert and Juniper, was a short, unhappy experiment. Whether it was the new location, the sudden drop in immigration in 1854 as the effects of the Irish potato famine lessened, or the collapse of the economy following the 1857 Panic, the College/Prep attendance dropped significantly. The debt service for the new building was so great that the school was forced to give it up and return to Willings Alley in 1860. From 1861 to 1889 the College department ceased operations but the Preparatory Department continued in some form. During this ignominious period in its history The Prep’s former building on Juniper Street was first used by The Academy of Notre Dame and then by LaSalle. The Prep tradition was carried on by a few students studying classical languages in the parlors of the rectory at Willings Alley.