St. Rose of Lima, Chesapeake City

Preparations had begun in 1871, when one acre of land was purchased for $475 in Chesapeake City. 500 people gathered for the blessing and establishment of St. Rose of Lima as a mission of St. Francis Xavier, commonly referred to as Old Bohemia, the Mother Church of the Diocese of Wilmington. The church was formally dedicated in June of 1875. Saint Francis Xavier founded another mission in 1883, Saint Joseph in Middletown. Together, these three churches in 1890 reported 350 registered Catholics and a yearly income of $850.

In 1908, St. Francis Xavier became a mission of St. Joseph, which was named a parish, and a rectory was built in Middletown on Cochran Street. At this time, it took two and a half hours to get from St. Joseph to St. Rose, traveling by horse and wagon, but the priests readily did this to serve those entrusted to their care.

In February of 1955, two additional acres, adjoining St. Rose's property, were purchased. In 1974, St. Rose celebrated its centennial anniversary and the Old Bohemia Council of the Knights of Columbus were founded.

By 1963, the parish census reported that there were 45 registered families at St. Rose of Lima. Together with 120 families at St. Joseph, the parish had a total of 571 people. In the Great Jubilee of 2000, parish records indicate that there were 200 registered families at St. Rose, with another 1,100 at St. Joseph.

A newly-installed Two Manual Protege Allen Organ was blessed At St. Rose on September 5, 2009. And, in January of 2010, repairs were made to its steeple and roof.