1942
Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in New Hartford, New York can trace its roots directly to World War II. With the war raging, the US Army selected a 175 acre farm on Burrstone Road as a site for a new hospital to treat wounded soldiers. Rhodes General Army Hospital opened in August 1943 with 180 buildings, 1,950 beds, 15 miles of corridors, its own post office, railroad & fire department, and an interdenominational chapel called St. Thomas More Chapel. There was also a housing complex called Rhodes Village for the service men & women workers and their families to live. When the war was over, the hospital was closed and the buildings used as a college for GI Bill veterans. It was called Mohawk College.
1947
In September 1947, the Rev. Alfred J. Holdredge was appointed chaplain of Mohawk College and an infant Utica College with pastoral privileges to serve the servicemen and women and their families in Rhodes Village.
1949
Fr. Holdredge bought the Chapel from the US government for $1,250 and in the spring of 1949 it was moved across Burrstone Rd.to its present site. On July 22, 1949, the Chapel was named “The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary .
1951 to 1955
In 1951 the rectory was built and in 1955 two army barracks from Rhodes Hospital were moved to parish grounds and joined to form a Faith Formation Center.
1960
In 1960 two wings were added to the church to accommodate the constantly growing congregation.
Nowadays
Today the parish has over 900 active families and one of the largest Faith Formation Programs in the area. We are closely linked to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Notre Dame Jr/Sr High School.
Former Pastors include: Rev. Alfred Holdredge, Rev. Peter Paige, Rev. James Riley, Rev. James Fallon, Rev. Felix Colosimo and Rev.Thomas Honold. At the present time we have Rev.Joseph Salerno as our Pastor, Rev. Tom Servatius as our Parochial Vicar.
