← All Pennsylvania markers

Old St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church

Old St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church is a Pennsylvania historical marker in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, dedicated 2014.

324 Walnut St., Philadelphia

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

In 1729, Rev. Joseph Greaton, SJ, established the earliest foundation of Catholicism in Pa. He was the church's first pastor and the only Catholic priest in Philadelphia when the church was built in 1733. Jesuits from this parish founded the early frontier missions of Conewago in Adams County and Goshenhoppen in Berks County, as well as the first Catholic churches in New Jersey and Delaware.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Princeton University Library

Historical maps covering this location

1689 · A mapp of ye improved part of Pensilvania in America, divided into countyes, townships… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1708 · Carte Particuliere de Virginie, Maryland, Pennsilvanie. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1733 · A map of the British Empire in America with the French and Spanish settlements adjacent… (Princeton University Library)
1752 · A map of Philadelphia and parts adjacent with a perspective view of the State-house… (Leiden University Libraries)
1777 · A plan of the city and environs of Philadelphia COLLBN 011-04-044 (Leiden University Libraries)

A mapp of ye improved part of Pensilvania in America, divided into countyes, townships…, 1689, covering the location of Old St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — A mapp of ye improved part of Pensilvania in America, divided into countyes, townships…, 1689, covering this location. Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

Upload your family tree and TreeAlive finds the markers near where your own ancestors lived.

See your family's markers

Start with a tree file, a FamilySearch sign in, or a WikiTree ID.

Report a problem with this page

The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

We may pass what you report to the state's marker program. Please don't include personal details.

Marker data: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission via data.pa.gov

More markers nearby

The Philadelphia Contributionshipsame spot
Insurance Company of North Americaunder 1 mi
Caspar Wistar (1761-1818)under 1 mi
John Penn - PLAQUEunder 1 mi

On the National Register nearby

Philadelphia Contributionship270 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.