JOSEPH, TEXAS. Joseph was ten miles northeast of Hempstead and six miles north of Waller in Waller County. It was named for Joseph Hard, one of the early citizens of the area, and probably established sometime around 1900. A post office served local farmers from 1905 to 1930. William Bradbury opened the first post office and operated a general store. He also built a steam cotton gin that burned around 1913 but was rebuilt the following year. The Joseph Christian Church used a boiler tank in the gin yard as a baptistery. During its formative years Joseph also had a gristmill operated by Bradbury, a blacksmith shop, a tanyard, a shoe repair shop, and a barbershop. With a declining farm population in the area, all of the community's businesses except the general store had closed before 1930, when the post office also closed. The general store remained open until March 1936. The population of the community never officially exceeded the twenty-five residents reported in 1947. In 1990 Joseph remained on county maps, which show only a cemetery at the site.
Mildred W. Abshier et al., Former Post Offices of Waller County (Hempstead, Texas: Waller County Historical Society, 1977). Mildred Williams Abshier, A History of the Area Served by Tri-County Civic Club (1974 or 1975). Waller County Historical Commission, Cotton Gins of Waller County (Brenham, Texas, 1981). Waller County Historical Survey Committee, A History of Waller County, Texas (Waco: Texian, 1973).