page_title: Saint John's Catholic Prep (Maryland)
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Saint John's Catholic Prep (Maryland) / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of the original building of St. John's Literary Institution located on East Second Street in Frederick, Maryland
context_page_description: Saint John's Catholic Prep is a private, Roman Catholic, coeducational, college preparatory high school in Buckeystown, Maryland, located just southwest of Frederick City. At the time of its founding in 1829, it was located on Second Street in eastern downtown Frederick. Beginning in 1958 and for 45 years thereafter, the school was housed in the historic "Prospect Hall" mansion, also just southwest of Frederick. St. John's was the first independent Roman Catholic school in the state of Maryland. It was also the first Roman Catholic secondary school in the state of Maryland.
context_section_description: In 1756, a small Roman Catholic boys' school was opened in Frederick, Maryland, which provided a space for class and mass to be held. The population of Frederick was expanding, and in 1763 the first Roman Catholic Church (under the Archdiocese of Baltimore) St. John's Frederick-Town Church, was constructed by Father John Williams, the first priest and pastor in Frederick. This new structure would house classes for 66 years.
  In 1822, a "Jesuit" (Society of Jesus) priest, Father John McElroy, (1782–1877), was appointed to the pastorate at "St. John's Frederick-Town Church" in Frederick.  His first major action was to work with the religious order Sisters of Charity in nearby Emmitsburg, Maryland to help five sisters opening the "St. John's Female Benevolent and Frederick Free School" in Frederick, in January 1824.
  With the educational needs of Frederick's girls gradually being met, McElroy's next task was to found an educational institution for boys in the town.  In 1822, subscriptions were being taken and construction of the boys school had begun on East Second Street (in the eastern section of downtown Frederick) by August 7, 1828. It was completed the following year, and  opened in 1829 as "St. John's Literary Institution". Occasionally known thereafter as "St. John's College", the school was an academic rival to Georgetown College, founded earlier in (1829) near Washington, D.C. by the first American Bishop John Carroll, the Archbishop of Baltimore. After several years of running St. John's in Frederick, Fr. McElroy was transferred to Boston in 1847; there he would use the skills he acquired in Frederick to establish the nationally known Boston College, and its preparatory institution, Boston College High School along with the Church of the Immaculate Conception, all "Jesuit" institutions.
  The Jesuits left Frederick in 1903, and transferred control of the St. John's Literary Institution and the parish of St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church to diocesan priests from Baltimore, Maryland. In 1915, Father William Kane, the first diocesan pastor of St. John's the Evangelist of Frederick, arranged for the educationally focused women's religious order, the School Sisters of Notre Dame to help staff the school. He also combined classes from the girls' Visitation Academy  and the boys from St. John's to create the first co-ed school under the name of St. John's L.I.
  St. John's then began allowing girls to enroll for classes in 1925.  With attendance expanding, the original school structure built on Second Street by founder Father John McElroy in 1828 was demolished and a new building was erected in its place in the eastern sections of downtown Frederick.
  In 1958, the School separated and the high school of grades 9 to 12 moved from the East Second Street location, which would continue to house what was to be called "St. John's Elementary School" to the newly purchased Prospect Hall, a large mansion constructed on old "Red Hill" southwest of town off of Jefferson Pike and the new Butterfly Lane, built 1787-1803 and most recently owned by a former U.S. Representative (Congressman) Joseph H. Himes, (also source for the renamed nearby road segment and postal address of Himes Avenue).  An additional temporary building was constructed at the rear of the mansion providing additional classrooms, an auditorium and gymnasium.
  At about this time the school was colloquially renamed "St. John's at Prospect Hall"—a name which was used almost as often as its traditional name, St. John's Literary Institution.
  The School Sisters of Notre Dame withdrew from staffing and leading St John's in 1972, and under the pressure and possibility of closure, a group of parents, alumni, faculty and parishioners pooled their energies and resources to recharter St. John's as the first independent Roman Catholic School in Maryland, with a Board of Trustees.  During the early 21st century, the school's Physical Education Department and interscholastic athletics programs became known statewide for their athletic success, especially in basketball, winning 
caption: Original location on East Second Street in Frederick
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