St Rose of Lima Historic Chapel, Gaithersburg, MD - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

The Saint Rose of Lima parish traces its founding to the appointment of Father James Redmond, S.J. as pastor to establish a Roman Catholic community in and around Rockville, Maryland. Father Redmond's responsibilities included serving Catholics in the Gaithersburg area who met in a small chapel on property owned by Henry Darnell. The land later was inherited by Henry Waring.
By 1819, Father Peter De Vos was pastor of St Mary's Parish in Rockville, and he visited the Gaithersburg community once each month. At this time, the community had moved their gatherings to the nearby Woodlands estate owned by Francis Clopper.
In 1834, Francis Clopper, at the request of his wife Ann Byrne Clopper and her sister Ellen Maria Byrne Maher, donated a parcel of land for a Catholic Church and cemetery. Ellen Maria Maher provided most of the funds for construction. The name St. Rose of Lima was chosen to honor their close friend Mother Rose Landry White, successor to Saint Elizabeth Seton. By 1835, a brick church stood on the grounds. This church was dedicated in 1836.
From 1880-1882, the church building underwent a major renovation but was destroyed by fire in April 1883. Reported causes of the fire were a mouse disturbing matches or an un-extinguished censor placed in a cupboard. A much more recent explanation is that the fire was caused by an oil lamp spill.
The St. Rose community quickly rebuilt the church and on July 4, 1883, the original cornerstone was laid into the new foundation. Parish history says that the cornerstone is incorrectly dated as 1838 rather than 1835, but it was decided not to disfigure it with a re-cut correction. The restored church was dedicated on September 12, 1884 by Archbishop James Gibbons.
A new larger church was built in 2006 but this building, now known as the Historic Chapel, remains in daily use by the parish to this day.

Chapel Masses
Sunday: 7:15am
Monday-Friday: 8:45am

Main Church Masses
Saturday: 5:00pm
Sunday: 8:45am, 1:15am, 1:00pm (Spanish)


Reference: The History of St. Rose Church and the Catholic Community compiled by Gene Domalski, Parish Historian (July 2004).

Date the Church was built, dedicated or cornerstone laid: 01/01/1835 Age of Church building determined by?: Other reliable source If denomination of Church is not part of the name, please provide it here: Roman Catholic Street address of Church: 11701 Clopper Road Gaithersburg, MD USA 20878 Primary website for Church or Historic Church Building: [Web Link] Secondary Website for Church or Historic Church Building: [Web Link] If Church is open to the public, please indicate hours: Not listed If Church holds a weekly worship service and "all are welcome", please give the day of the week: Not listed Indicate the time that the primary worship service is held. List only one: Not Listed

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