Sacred Heart, Chestertown

The Jesuit Fathers, first from the Western Shore and later, once stationed at Old Bohemia, from Cecil Count, would visit this area as a mission. In 1851, Fr. George Villiger, was assigned to Kent County. Sacred Heart parish officially began when the Most Reverend Thomas A. Becker, first bishop of Wilmington, assigned a Pastor for the Kent Missions, Records dated October 30, 1876 listed the Kent County Missions as comprising Saint Dennis, Sacred Heart in Chestertown, Eastern Neck, Willson's or Saint John's, Church Hill, Captain Friel's, the southern half of Queen Anne's County, Sudlersville, etc.

In 1878, the first Sacred Heart church was built in Chestertown. Two years later, the parish split as Saint Dennis became its own parish. By 1883, Mass was said each Sunday in Chestertown and once a month in Rock Hall. In 1887, Galena's Saint Dennis became its own parish. By 1883, Mass was said each Sunday in Chestertown and once a month in Rock Hall. In 1887, Galena's Saint Dennis returned to Sacred Heart as one parish for 5 years, when it again became independent. In 1882, with a growing population, Mass was offered twice a month in Rock Hall and one day each month in Eastern Neck at the Wilson Home. The present rectory in Cambridge was built in 1897 through the generosity of an anonymous donor. In 1915, the parish began a mission chapel in Betterton, the Church of the Most Precious Blood, where Mass was said regularly during the summer; it would later close in 1985.

The parish organized a branch of the Catholic Youth Organization and began a Newman Club at Washington College in 1946. The 1950s were a time of growth as the church was enlarged and housekeeper quarters were added to the rectory. The church hall was also renovated, and a kitchen was added. The Most reverend Edmond J. FitzMaurice, fourth Bishop of Wilmington, dedicated the enlarged and renovated church on May 31, 1954.

Although the structural changes made to Sacred Heart in the 1950s renovations provided additional worship space and addressed, in part, some of the accessibility issues associated with what was essentially a second-story church, the needs of a growing faith community began to place significant pressure of the parish for additional teaching space for its religious education program and a worship space to accommodate its parishioners. The recently-purchased homes and the small Thompson's Grocery Store along High Street and adjacent to the rectory were demolished to provide the ground space for the new church. Demolition began in early 1972 with ground breaking in August. The Most Reverend Thomas J. Mardaga, sixth Bishop of Wilmington, formally dedicated the church on November 25, 1973, the Feast of Christ the King. The original church was converted into a religious education center, with classrooms, offices, and a library; it reopened in the Fall of 1974.

In the late 1970s, renovations were made to the rectory, and the parish offices were moved from the rectory to the church building. In the 1980s, the offices and front vestibule were renovated. More recently, extensive renovations to the rectory, the sanctuary, the nave, and the parish hall were completed.