St. John the Baptist, Newark, DE

When George Washington and forces of the Continental Army marched through Newark on their way to Yorktown, they found respite at St. Patrick's Inn, a log structure that stood on a site that is now the Deer Park Tavern. One of the first Masses in this area may have been offered there by the Marquis de Lafayette's chaplain, who traveled with the French soldier.

The first Catholics to settle in the area were Irish immigrants who were ministered to by the priests from Old Bohemia Mission until Delaware was made part of the Philadelphia Diocese. Priests from New Castle then took on the responsibility of visiting Catholic laborers in the Iron Hill mines and those later involved in railroad construction.

In 1866, the priests of Immaculate Conception in Elkton began celebrating a monthly Mass in various homes. On the other Sundays of the month, many people traveled the six miles to Elkton by horse or on foot. However, when the railroad was completed, worshipers made the journey by railroad handcar.

In 1868, a local Catholic, Charles A. Murphy, approached the trustees of the First Presbyterian Church about their property at the corner of Main and Chapel Streets. On July 31, Murphy purchased the wood frame structure and offered it to the Elkton parish as a mission church. The church was named in honor of St. Patrick, and the title was transferred to the church for the sum of one dollar.

At that time, St. Patrick was only one of the 15 churches in the young Diocese of Wilmington. The Most Reverend Thomas A. Becker, first Bishop of Wilmington, described his churches, including St. Patrick, saying: "They were all small buildings, old and poverty-stricken."

In 1876, a modest frame house was erected just behind the church to provide overnight quarters for the clergy coming to Newark. In 1880, the floor of the church collapsed during the Christmas Midnight Mass.

While the church was being rebuilt, Sunday Mass was held in the upstairs meeting room of the Newark Grange Hall, which is currently Klondike Kate's. Upon completion, the church was renamed St. John the Baptist. The new church was consecrated on June 24, 1883, by Bishop Becker. At that time, a one-ton bell, then one of the largest in the state, was placed in the cupola bearing the inscription: "I am a voice crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord!"

In 1885, Justin J. Pie, a parishioner and owner of the Deer Park Estate, donated land for a parish cemetery at the corner of Elkton Road and West Park Place.

Finally, in 1891, the mission of St. John the Baptist was made a parish.

It was not until the 1940s that large numbers of people moved into the Newark area, at which point a major renovation of the church was undertaken from 1946-1947.

In the early 1950s, there was need for another church. The vision also included a grade school and a convent. This gave birth to Holy Angels church and school. The parish was then named St. John the Baptist-Holy Angels. The parish continued to grow, especially in the Ogletown-Brookside area, where in 1971, plans for Holy Family were begun; it was made its own parish in 1979.

On May 7, 1982, St. John the Baptist Church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1990, the church was unintentionally set on fire by an intruder. The restoration of the church came to $600,000 and was completed in the Fall of 1992. More recently, St. John the Baptist has seen further renovations and major aesthetic improvements, including the repair and replacement of its cupola.