Chaplain Rock Triangle

221 St & 41 Av

Queens

Directions via Google Maps

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

This triangle is named in honor of Chaplain James E. Rock (1880-1941), who served for six years as Chaplain for the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church at 216th Street and 38th Avenue in Bayside, Queens. Rock was born in Brooklyn on April 7, 1880, and studied at Brooklyn’s St. Francis College and St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland. After his ordainment in May 1914, Rock took a position at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish and later served as a pastor at St. Michael’s Church in Flushing.

During World War I, Rock traveled to Europe as a chaplain in the United States Army. The pastor left for the front in 1918 and, in 1919, became the chaplain at the First Army Headquarters at Chateau-Thierry, France. Upon returning to New York, Rock became a chaplain at St. Hugh’s Church in Huntington Station, Long Island. In 1935, Rock was named pastor at Sacred Heart church, a position he would keep until his death in 1941.

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