The earliest settlers of what would eventually become Rosendale and its surrounding hamlets seem to have made their homes in the area in the late decades of the 1600s. From 1700 into the 1800s, the story of Rosendale was one of slow growth among these agricultural families. All this changed, however, in 1825. In that year, two things happened that made Rosendale prominent: the building of the Delaware & Hudson Canal to provide a means of getting coal from Pennsylvania to New York City, and the discovery in Rosendale of natural cement.* The operation of the D&H canal and the opening up of markets hungry for “Rosendale Cement” brought an economic boom to the area that attracted many immigrants up from New York City looking for work. These immigrants, mostly single men, were of Irish and European origin and were very often Catholic.

With an increasing Catholic presence in the area, the necessity of providing Mass and the sacraments arose. For the first 25 years of the boom (1825-1850), as these men married and started families, they were served by various mission priests—first from Poughkeepsie, then from Kingston. Masses, when available, were said in family homes. In 1850, a small mission church, called St. Peter’s on the Rock, was built on the site of today’s convent. The population grew so rapidly, however, that the need for a change in status became evident. Thus the former mission territory of Rosendale became parochial territory when the parish of St. Peter’s was officially established in 1855 and assigned its first pastor. As the population continued to grow and prosper, so did the parish: the present church and rectory were built in 1875 and were followed soon after by the transformation of the mission church into a school, St. Peter’s first school, and the construction of a convent to house sisters to teach in the school. By 1900, a parish hall (present-day Mulry Hall) had been built which also did duty as a community theater and meeting hall.

By this time, however, the D&H canal had seen its last days—canals having been replaced by railroads as a more efficient means for transporting goods. The cement industry began to decline as well owing to the increased competition from Portland cement. As a result, with the loss of jobs, the Rosendale area suffered a major population decline. The parish school was closed in 1917 and the sisters departed to continue their apostolic work elsewhere. Both school and convent would eventually be demolished. Lean years followed.

Spring, however, slowly began to return. The parish hall was remodeled to serve as a school, which led to St. Peter’s re-opening its school in 1940—staffed, now, by a new community of sisters. With the post-WWII boom years and the growth of IBM in Kingston, the parish population rebounded. In the early 1960s, our present school and convent were built and St. Peter’s was once again prospering.

In the post-Vatican II years, the parish introduced the new liturgical and pastoral practices that diocesan authorities everywhere were recommending. St. Peter’s parishioners, ever proud of their church and parish grounds, funded a major restoration of the church in the mid-1980s which returned both its exterior and interior to the original design and decorative scheme envisioned by its architects. Yet these boom years eventually began to fade as well as IBM closed its Kingston facilities, and young families, following the jobs, moved out of the area. This led to the school’s being closed a second time in the Spring of 2001.

But as history has demonstrated in so many dioceses around the country, parishes that have their downs often come back stronger than ever during the up times. Thus St. Peter’s is finishing another refurbishing campaign—the Bicentennial Campaign (named for the 200th anniversary celebration of the Archdiocese of New York)—setting the stage for what everyone hopes will be, in the not-too-distant future, another revival in the Rosendale area and another Spring for St. Peter’s parish.

* Natural cement was called natural because cement’s primary ingredients, limestone and clay, were found in the earth—in nature—in already correct proportions. (Portland cement, on the other hand, required the mining of the ingredients separately and their later mixing in pre-determined proportions.) All that was needed to make “Rosendale” cement was to mine the rock, crush it en masse, cook it in kilns (many of which still dot the landscape), and pulverize it into powder. Powder is what cement looks like in its ready-to-use form. The natural cement that came from Rosendale, when mixed with sand, gravel, and water produced a very hard concrete—which made Rosendale cement such a valuable product.

Founding and early history (1825-1855)

1825-1835
The discovery of “natural-cement” limestone in the area during the construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal puts Rosendale on the map:
Natural cement was first used in the United States in the late 18th Century. In 1825, commercial mining and processing operations were begun in an area in New York's Hudson Valley in and around the town of Rosendale in Ulster County. By 1830, nearly 10 million pounds per year of natural cement were being produced, marking the beginning of its commercialization. Several brands of natural cement quickly appeared on the market, produced from the region's vast deposits of argillaceous limestone. Collectively they became known as Rosendale cements. As the Industrial Revolution began, the need arose to more quickly construct large masonry buildings. Fast-setting Rosendale Natural Cement mortars proved more efficient than traditional mortars based on lime and sand. The advantages in construction of military
fortifications were also soon realized, beginning the long-term use of Rosendale cement by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. By 1850, annual consumption of natural cement grew to more than 300 million pounds.

Over the course of that century, the United States grew from a rural, agrarian economy to an urbanized industrial power. Early concrete, like the supports for the Brooklyn Bridge, began changing the face of American cities. Canals like the Delaware and Hudson helped to speed delivery of materials to their markets. Later, expansion of rail systems further accelerated transportation of passengers and goods. Construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad tunnels and Grand Central Station were part of that growth. In New York City, construction of the first light-rail rapid-transit system was beginning. All of these projects utilized Rosendale Natural Cements. Nearly 3 billion pounds of natural cement were produced countrywide each year in the 1890s, and half of it came from Rosendale. But as the 20th Century began, demand was for still higher-strength, and still faster-curing cements. Natural cement usage was quickly overtaken and surpassed by Portland cement. Although Rosendale natural cements remained in use for special applications as late as the 1960s, the last of the original Rosendale mining operations closed in 1970.

Edison Coatings, Inc. restarted production of Rosendale natural cement in 2004. Edison’s Rosendale Natural Cement Products are historically correct materials made from authentic, natural-cement rock; . . . mortars, stuccos, grouts, and concretes fully utilize the engineering expertise developed in the use of natural cement in the 19th and 20th centuries.

(quoted from www.rosendalecement.net)

Such projects as the Brooklyn Bridge, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, the wings of the U.S. Capitol, the foundation of the Washington Monument, the Croton Aqueduct, the Pennsylvania Railroad tunnels, Grand Central Terminal, and the New York State Thruway are all built with Rosendale Cement. Add to this burgeoning industry the initial stages of the digging of the Delaware and Hudson Canal running through the village (to facilitate the barging of coal from coal-rich Pennsylvania via the Delaware River to the Hudson, thence down to New York City), and an immediate need arises for workers. This leads to the first noticeable Catholic presence in the area as Irish and German immigrants come up from New York City looking for jobs. Given that there is no Catholic church in the area, they practice their faith with only an occasional Mass being offered at the Rondout (in present-day Kingston)—priests being supplied by the Hudson River Mission of the Diocese of New York.

1835-1842
The Bishop of New York names Fr. Philip O'Reilly as Mission pastor of the Catholic communities along the Hudson. Fr. O'Reilly finds some sixty Catholic families within a 10-mile radius of the Rondout and begins collecting money to purchase property there to build a church—the present-day St. Mary’s in Kingston. Meanwhile, Mass is celebrated in private homes.

1842-1849
St. Mary’s parish is established in the Rondout in 1842 and Rosendale becomes one of its missions. The first Mass in the Rosendale area is celebrated by Fr. Myles Maxwell in Petrie's cooper-shop in Lawrenceville (Rte 213 and Cottekill Rd) before a congregation of some two dozen people.

July 19, 1850
Pope Pius IX raises the Diocese of New York to the status of an archdiocese with John Hughes as its first archbishop. That same month, construction of a small wood-frame chapel nears completion on property in Rosendale owned by one Walter Delmar. Built on a rock outcropping, that chapel comes to be known, popularly, as “St. Peter’s on the Rock.” (In fact, the chapel of today’s convent was built on the foundations of that chapel in the 1960s.) The first Mass in the new chapel is celebrated on August 15, the Feast of the Assumption. The attendees present, however, are still being served by priests from St. Mary’s at the Rondout.

Fall 1855
St. Peter's finally grows large enough to be established as a parish in its own right and under its own pastor, Fr. Edward Lynch. This is the founding year of the parish. (150 years later, in the Fall of 2005, the parish’s Sesquicentennial would be celebrated by Cardinal Egan, the ninth archbishop of New York, and the parishioners of St. Peter’s.) Fr. Lynch serves as pastor for only six months before being transferred. For the next five years, the parish goes without a pastor, being served, once again, by priests from St. Mary’s.

1860-1864
Fr. Lawrence O'Toole arrives as second pastor in December of 1860 and conducts Saturday night patrols of the many bars on Main Street to remind his congregants that he expects to see them at Mass the next morning.

1864-1874
Fr. Patrick Brady presides over the civil incorporation of the parish on June 13, 1865. He begins raising money to replace the original “St. Peter’s on the Rock” with a new church and rectory a stone’s throw away. That new church and rectory are the current church and rectory built in the Gothic Revival style popular in the mid-1800s. Fr. Brady, however, only raises the money for the church; the actual building of it will be left to his successor.

1874-1881
Fr. Martin O’Flaherty oversees the laying of the cornerstone for the new church and rectory in 1875. The architect is Arthur Crooks, the same man who designs Kingston City Hall. Similarities in style and materials can be seen in both buildings. Fr. O’Flaherty celebrates the first Mass at the new church on Christmas Day, 1876, and newspaper accounts put the average Sunday attendance at about 800 parishioners. That same year, The Kingston Freeman reports that St. Peter’s Fair raises $2,000—proof that a parish Bazaar of some sort has been around for a long time. The old “St. Peter’s on the Rock” is converted to a parish recreation hall. In 1877, Cardinal McClusky confirms 400 children and expresses himself well pleased with the work being done here. Fr. O’Flaherty dies unexpectedly at the age of 34 and over 2000 people are reported to have attended his funeral. He is buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery in the circle at the entrance.

1881-1894
Fr. John Gleason supervises construction of the retaining walls on the perimeter of the church property and adds an addition to “St. Peter’s on the Rock” thus converting the recreation hall into the first St. Peter’s School. He also builds a convent on the terraced knoll just up the hill from the school. This convent will
house six Sisters of Charity who’ll arrive in 1890 to be the school’s first teachers. Fr. Gleason is buried just further up the hill overlooking his parish.

1897-1903
Fr. Patrick Maughan, a former mason and bricklayer, helps build the low stone wall east of the church as well as a new community hall on the banks of the Rondout Creek. That hall, now known as Mulry Hall, is a joint undertaking of parishioners of St. Peter’s and members of the community at large. It is let out for town meetings, movies (shown upstairs), dances (held downstairs), and vaudeville shows. Completed in 1898, the building is known almost immediately as the Rosendale Town Hall, and later, in the 1920s and 30s, as the Bijou.

1903-1905
Fr. Francis Lenes is pastor when fire breaks out beneath the altar and partially destroys the interior of the church. He oversees the reconfiguration and reconstruction of the sanctuary and center aisles, as well as the installation of a new altar rail, pulpit, and confessionals. In the same year, St. Peter’s starts a mission at High Falls, with parishioners initially meeting for Mass in the home of James Joseph, a local parishioner. Ground is broken for a new chapel. It won’t be completed, however, for six years. The two local industries, Rosendale Cement and the Delaware and Hudson Canal, both experience major economic downturns: the cement industry due to the new popularity of Portland cement, and the Canal due to the expansion of the railroad system. As a result, local jobs are lost, families begin to move out of the area, and the parish suffers a decline in parishioners.

1907-1912
Fr. John Hickey completes construction of the chapel of Our Lady Help of Christians at High Falls in 1909.

1912-1915
Fr. Thomas Duffy serves as pastor for a few years as WWI begins in Europe and is the dedicatee of the stained-glass window of the Holy Trinity high on the wall behind the main altar. It is Fr. Duffy who writes the charming letter to his successor—an enlarged copy of which hangs in the first-floor rectory hallway.

1915-1917
Fr. William Egan is pastor. With the migration of local families out of the area due to the loss of jobs in the mining and canal industries, he reluctantly complies with the Archdiocese’s decision to close St. Peter’s School (“St. Peter’s on the Rock”) due to diminishing enrollment. Subsequent pastors will struggle throughout the 1920s and 30s to make the parish self-supporting.

1917-1936
Frs. Edward Higgens, Philip Boylan, and Francis O’Reilly steer the parish through the lean years of America’s entry into WWI, the Roaring Twenties, and the Great Depression.

1936-1946
Fr. William McDonald tears down the now-closed school building (“St. Peter’s on the Rock”) and redesigns the Bijou with partition walls to serve as the parish’s new school. He reopens the school in 1940 and staffs it with teaching sisters from the Newburgh Dominicans. By 1944, grades one through eight are being taught. In the meantime, Bishop Francis Spellman is installed as sixth Archbishop of New York in 1939 and the US enters WWII in December of 1941.

1946-1953
Fr. John Kelly begins extensive renovations of the parish buildings, overseeing installation of new pews, confessionals, stained glass windows, and an organ (among other improvements), and making further improvements to St. Peter’s new school (the former Bijou) and the convent up the hill.

1953-1966
Fr. Vincent de Paul Mulry is pastor.  With the post-war expansion of the economy and the increasing prosperity of the fifties—including the expansion of IBM into both Kingston and Poughkeepsie—St. Peter’s begins to experience a renewed growth in parishioners.  Thanks to the baby boom, the school experiences a corresponding growth as well.  Fr. Mulry launches a campaign to construct a new two-story school complex (the current school) to be attached to the old “Bijou” classroom space, and a new convent (the current convent) to replace the original 1890 convent (which will later be demolished).  Both projects are completed, and in November 1965, 287 children are enrolled in the school.  In this period, the Rosary-Altar Society is founded in 1964 with Catherine O’Leary as its president and an initial enrolment of 30 members.  The purpose of the Society is the spiritual wellbeing of its members through weekly recitation of the rosary and the benefit of the parish through caring for the sanctuary and sacristy.  Our Lady’s Chapel in High Falls receives new pews, flooring, and front steps.  In the meantime, the parish celebrates its hundredth anniversary in 1955; Pope John XXIII succeeds Pope Pius XII as Roman Pontiff in 1958, and then convenes the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965.

1966-1968 
Fr. Richard Curtin comes to St. Peter’s after spending twenty years on the faculty of St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie.  He spends only two short years here before being transferred to the Manhattan parish he grew up in.  He will eventually retire, however, to a small home he owns in the parish.  Bishop Terence Cooke succeeds Cardinal Spellman as seventh archbishop of New York.

1968-1973
Fr. David Welsh, in keeping with new directives coming in the wake of Vatican II, establishes the first Parish Council of 33 members at St. Peter’s in 1970 with Lou Muenkel its president.  That year also sees the first time the anticipated Sunday Mass is celebrated on a Saturday evening.  Fr. Welsh oversees a re-painting of the church and rectory brick exteriors (it had been painted a dark red color sometime in the past) in order to preserve the mortar between the bricks which was deteriorating.  A beige color is chosen to blend with the color of the new school and convent.  With the diminishing number of vocations to the religious life, the two remaining Dominican Sisters of Newburgh bid farewell to St. Peter’s School.  The old 1890s convent, no longer needed after the completion of the new convent, is burned down under the supervision of the local fire department.

1973-1987
Fr. Gerard Bliss forms a committee to look for a new religious community to replace the Newburgh Dominicans at the school.  In 1974, the School Sisters of St. Francis of Milwaukee respond and Srs. Carol Rigali, Dorothy Sinibaldi, Joyce Schreiner, and Marie Burgerino arrive—to be joined, a year later, by Sr. Clarissa Klaas.  In 1976, the first Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion begin to serve at Mass, and newly ordained Fr. Paul Dmoch, who had grown up in the parish, celebrates his first Mass here.  In 1981, parishioner John Liggan becomes the first permanent deacon in the parish, and in 1985, Jack Larkin becomes the second.  In that same year, Father Bliss begins a campaign to raise money for an extensive two-year restoration and improvement program to the church and rectory, inside and out.  He dies, however, before he can see it through.  Bishop John J. O’Connor succeeds Terence Cardinal Cooke as the eighth Archbishop of New York in March of 1984.

1987-1994
Fr. John Farley oversees the completion of the improvements begun by Father Bliss, including the removal of paint from the exterior brickwork of the church and rectory, the re-shingling of the church, the gilding of the sanctuary walls, the installation of a new electronic organ, and other structural and cosmetic improvements made to the church, Mulry Hall, and the High Falls chapel.  A re-wiring of the church and rectory is also begun: new lighting is installed in the church sanctuary and paid for by a grant from Central Hudson.  Under the headship of Lou Muenkel, the parish Maintenance Committee installs a new rectory heating system as well as a bathroom in the church.  Fr. Farley initiates a fund-raising campaign to meet the increasing expenses associated with running the school and welcomes a redesign of the church sanctuary including the installation of a raised floor and the building of a new freestanding altar and baptismal font, constructed in the style of the historic rear altar and reredos.  That altar and font will be handmade by several of St. Peter’s parishioner-craftsmen.  In 1994, Fr. Farley is asked by Cardinal O’Connor to head up a new seminary formation program in the Archdiocese and thus leaves the parish.

1994-2001
Fr. Paul Dmoch returns to his home parish as pastor.  He undertakes a renovation of the church parking lot as well as the first-time air-conditioning of the church and the installation of new boilers in the church basement.  The next phase of re-wiring the church and rectory continues.  He also introduces tithing.  In late 1994, IBM in Kingston, the biggest local employer, closes its doors and transfers 1,500 jobs out of the area.  As a result, local parishes, including St. Peter’s, experience a noticeable loss of parishioners.  In 1995, Drs. Kenneth and Marie-Louise Johnson are given the Pro Ecclesia and Pontifice Medal in honor of the service they have given the Church and Holy Father over the years.  The medals are conferred on them on November 5th by the Most Rev. Anthony Apuron, Archbishop of Guam, an old friend of theirs.  In 1999, the parish is designated a pilgrimage site for the Jubilee Year 2000.  In June of 2000, Bishop Edward Egan succeeds John Cardinal O’Connor as the ninth Archbishop of New York.  In the Spring of 2001, the parish school is once again closed by the Archdiocese because of low enrollment and unsustainable costs.

2001-2013
Fr. Andrew Florez is appointed pastor and dedicates the now-closed school building to full-time use of the Religious Education Program—except for classroom space devoted to a new pre-school program run by Mary Carroll.  That program will close in the Spring of 2008 upon her retirement and the prospect of exorbitant heating-fuel price increases.  Two new furnaces are donated to Our Lady’s Chapel in High Falls by parishioners who wish to remain anonymous.  A new program for teens, Antioch, is started with Fran Carey as its youth minister.  With an ecumenical membership not only of Catholic teens but of local Evangelicals as well as teens of no formal religious affiliation, it meets weekly on Sunday evenings and holds two weekend-long gatherings during the year—one in the Fall, one in the Spring.  It thrives for ten 
years until dwindling membership brings it to a close.  The Rosary-Altar Society is rejuvenated and begins, once again, under the presidency of Andrea Ackerman, to tend to the upkeep and decoration of the sanctuary in Rosendale and the chapel in High Falls.  Early on, it sponsors a yearly Communion Breakfast with guest speakers.  In June of 2003, Sr. Dorothy Sinibaldi, SSSF celebrates fifty years of religious life with a Mass and reception at Hillside Manor.  The church roof is re-shingled in 2004 and the rectory roof in 2007.  New boilers are installed in the school and convent.  The annual Labor-Day Bazaar of so many years is reconstituted as a Summer Parish Picnic and is moved from the grounds of the parish to the Rosendale Recreation Center.  In 2005, the parish celebrates its Sesquicentennial anniversary with events scheduled throughout the year, including a retrospective history in photos and written documents compiled by John Carroll, the parish historian.  Cardinal Egan celebrates the Sesquicentennial Mass in September of that year and, upon entering the church in procession, says to the pastor under his breath, “I never realized there was a church this beautiful, this far north in the diocese.”  The Mass is immediately followed by a reception in Mulry Hall and a banquet at Hillside Manor later that evening.  In June of 2006, Robert Repke is ordained the third permanent deacon of the parish (Deacons Liggan and Larkin having been out of the parish for several years now).  A major diocesan-wide fund-raising campaign, called the Bicentennial Campaign, is launched in 2007.  It leads to much-needed repair and restoration work on the church, rectory, and Mulry Hall exteriors as well as the church interior.  The first-time installation of a sound system in the High Falls Chapel is also accomplished.  The final phase of the church re-wiring is completed.  Some major repair work on the Mulry Hall ground floor is undertaken to alleviate rotting problems caused by long-term seepage of water into the foundation.  Cosmetic improvements are also made in former classrooms on that floor. In April of 2009, Archbishop Timothy Dolan is installed as the tenth archbishop of New York, and in February of 2012 he is elevated to the rank of Cardinal. In October of 2012, Sr. Dorothy bids farewell to the parish after having served 38 years here.  She returns to the Community's motherhouse in Milwaukee.  At her farewell dinner, a letter from Sr. Carol Rigali, now the U.S. Provincial of the SSSF, is read:

Dear Parishioners of St. Peter's: 
On the warm summer day of June 16, 1974, School Sisters of St. Francis arrived in Rosendale from our home in Milwaukee to begin a ministry among the people of the Parish and School of St. Peter.  Each year since, we have celebrated that day as one of great joy and thanksgiving.  Father Bliss extended the warmth and welcome that has accompanied us from that first day until now.  Most of the June 1974 Sisters have left in one way or another, remembering especially Sister Clarissa, who is now with God.  The people of St. Peter’s have made a home for the Sisters at the parish and in their hearts and souls.  There are no words to adequately express what these years have meant to those of us who were privileged to serve among you. Now the day has come when the last remaining School Sister will leave the parish and return to the Motherhouse in Milwaukee.  Sister Dorothy Sinibaldi continued to remain in Rosendale alone for the last 25 years to minister with you and to be ministered-to by you.  The depth of our gratitude to you is immense.  Thank you for allowing us to be part of the Family of St. Peter’s, simply a grand and glorious gift of God.  As we take our leave from you physically, our hearts and lives are ever changed by our time with you.  We know that God will continue to grace you greatly.  You are forever embedded in our hearts and in our souls.  We are all truly different because we have journeyed together with you.  God’s will and ways are great!

Yours in Christ,
Sr. Carol Rigali, SSSF
U.S. Provincial

Sr. Dorothy’s leaving the convent makes way for the convent now to be leased-out as a non-sectarian pre-school/daycare program, called Little Creek Preschool and Daycare, under the direction of Olga Callahan.  Ms. Callahan starts admitting students in the Summer of 2013.  In July of 2013, the official parish website, 
StPeter.editme.com, under construction for several years by then, is completed with the help of Toni Wasik who built it and is responsible for its appearance.  It will officially be rolled-out to the parish once the new pastor has given his approval.  In the same month, Fr. Florez’s tenure as pastor is up as he has spent 12 years in the parish. 

2013-2022
The new pastor, Fr. Edmund Burke, formerly of St. Mary's in Kingston, arrives in July of 2013.
After much deliberation, Our Lady’s Chapel in High Falls is sold in November of 2015 to a private buyer.
A major Capital Campaign named Renew & Rebuild is launched by the archdiocese in the Spring of 2017. The overwhelming response The funds will be used to complete major projects needed.

What you have just read is a “bricks and mortar” history of the parish. It’s the easiest kind of history to write because it deals by and large with facts that can be readily found in parish records. But a bricks-and-mortar history of any parish gives only the superficials of the parish. Priests are not assigned to a parish,
communicants do not belong to a parish, parishioners do not volunteer at a parish just to keep the buildings up, the walls painted, and the lawns mowed. The heart of a Catholic parish—what prompts the adherence of all these people to any parish—is the presence there of the means to salvation in the Mass and sacraments, and the presence of a community of people who are striving to work out their salvation by loving God and helping one another in all the ways Christ wants them to. That kind of history can hardly be told because it takes place, so often, in one-on-one conversations that are never recorded, in private pats on the back that are never witnessed, in anonymous sacrifices made for the wellbeing of people in need, in prayers silently offered for those who have lost a loved one, in the return of someone to the faith under the seal of Confession, in the ineffable workings of Christ in the souls of those who receive him worthily in the Eucharist. This is the history that’s most important to any parish: the unwritten account of each parishioner’s encounter with Christ in the many ways Christ reaches us. This is why he founded his
Church. And if that history of St. Peter’s could ever be written, as John said at the end of his Gospel, the world would not be able to hold the number of books it would take to record it.

† Expanded from John Carroll’s “One Hundred Twenty Fifth Year of St. Peter’s Church” (September 2000) and his “St. Peter’s Church Sesquicentennial Chronology” (September 2005)