The history of St. Joachim’s Roman Catholic Church in Frankford began in the year 1843. About twenty men met in a small house in the area of the northern portion of the Frankford borough of Philadelphia. This meeting was held to discuss the purchase of a tract of land in which to construct a Catholic Chapel for the area of Frankford. Up until and during that period many Catholics in the area would worship at either St. Michael’s on Second Street or St. Stephen’s, both in Philadelphia. Those present at that meeting included William Keenan (the homeowner), John McCafferty, John Haney, Timothy Britt, Patrick Farren.