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A BRIEF PARISH HISTORY
St. Joseph Parish is proud of our special place in the history of Catholicism in this part of the country. In 1704 when the Puritans in St. Mary's City closed every Catholic church on the peninsula, Jesuit Father Thomas Mansell crossed the Chesapeake in a small craft & came to a tract of land called Bohemia Manor (in "the wilderness" as it was labeled on contemporary maps). This "plantation" (recorded in Jesuit archives as St. Xavierus Mission) was staffed by Jesuits posing as "gentlemen farmers" and is recognized as the Mother Church of the Diocese of Wilmington. Only after the American Revolution and adoption of a Constitution guaranteeing freedom of religion, could construction begin on a church. St. Francis Xavier Church (known as "Old Bohemia") was constructed between 1793 and 1797. From there, the Jesuits founded many missions in Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. In Chesapeake City, St. Rose of Lima Church was built in 1874 to serve German merchants and Irish laborers who mined at Iron Hill, dug the Canal, and worked on the Frenchtown Railroad. Nine years later, St. Joseph Church was built in Middletown. After construction of a rectory in 1908, St. Joseph became the center of the parish. The parish remained a rather quiet little outpost until the last two decades. Both the Chesapeake City area and the M.O.T. (Middletown-Odessa-Townsend) area have exploded with growth, with lots of young couples moving here to raise their children. In the past 10 years, St. Joseph Parish has grown from 500 to more than 2,200 registered families, and we expect to add as many as 2,500 more families in the next ten years! We erected our Parish Complex in 1993 to accommodate Sunday Masses, new organizations and activities, and 700 young people in Religious Education classes. St. Rose of Lima Church was lovingly refurbished for the 125th Anniversary in 1999. Plans were developed, money raised, and a new St. Joseph Church is being constructed in Middletown, with dedication scheduled for November 2007. As we move forward in the fourth century of Catholic worship in our parish, we pray that all who come seeking the presence of God will find Him dwelling in our midst.
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