HistoricSiteMarkers
Colonial AmericaEarly Republic

Conewago Chapel

Oxford Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania

Marker Inscription

Four miles south of New Oxford. Original Jesuit chapel built 1787 still in use and one of oldest in the United States. The mission was founded 1730. First Sacred Heart church in Pennsylvania.

Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

The Story

Founded as a mission in 1730 and crowned with a chapel in 1787, Conewago stands among the oldest Catholic congregations in the United States and the first dedicated to the Sacred Heart in Pennsylvania. Jesuit priests ministered here to a community of German and Irish Catholic settlers at a time when their faith was barely tolerated in the British colonies. The enduring chapel is a rare survival of colonial-era Catholic worship on the American frontier.

Why it matters

Conewago testifies to the deep roots and quiet persistence of Catholic immigrant communities in early America, long before religious freedom was secure.

Plan your visit

Nearby

Make a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.

Museums & culture

Attractions

Food & drink

Places to stay

Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related events

  • · Founding of the Conewago mission

Themes & tags

ImmigrationChurch

Nearby & related markers

Christ Reformed Church

Union Township, PA · est. 1950

Organized in May 1747, this congregation earned its title as the "Mother of Reformed Churches" for the region, marking the arrival of German pioneers settling the southern reaches of the Conewago Valley. A section of the present building dates to 1798, and its old churchyard holds the graves of many notable early settlers — a physical record of the German communities that shaped colonial Pennsylvania.

Immigration

54th NY “Hiram Barney Rifles” Kovacs+ / Both marker

Cumberland Township, PA

This monument honors the 54th New York Infantry, the "Hiram Barney Rifles," of the First Brigade, First Division, Eleventh Corps at Gettysburg. On July 1, 1863, the regiment fought on the northern field as part of the division holding the Union right, taking part in the hard combat that ended in a fighting retreat through the town to Cemetery Hill. Like many Eleventh Corps regiments, it was raised in New York with a strongly German-immigrant character.

Civil WarImmigration

107th OH Meyer(w) / Lutz

Cumberland Township, PA

Dedicated by the surviving members of the regiment to their fallen comrades, this Ohio monument honors the 107th Ohio Infantry of the Second Brigade, First Division, Eleventh Corps at Gettysburg. On July 1, 1863, the regiment — largely made up of German-American volunteers — fought on the northern edge of the battlefield, where the division under Barlow and Ames was overwhelmed and driven back into town. The inscription, "Ohio's Token of Gratitude," speaks in the voice of the veterans who returned to mark where their friends had died.

Civil WarImmigration

58th NY “Polish Legion” Otto(w) / Koenig

Cumberland Township, PA

This monument tells the story of the 58th New York Infantry — the "Polish Legion" — whose two companies held this position north of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, before being ordered back to Cemetery Hill to rejoin the rest of the regiment. From that stronghold the reunited unit fought on through July 2 and 3, and after Pickett's Charge was repulsed it advanced as skirmishers back into the town. Raised in New York with a strongly immigrant, Central-European character, the regiment was part of Krzyzanowski's brigade in the Eleventh Corps.

Civil WarImmigration