1st Methodist Protestant Ch. B3

Historical Context

Rockville Centre is a village located in Nassau County, New York. The Reckouakie tribe of Native-Americans lived in the area that would become Rockville Centre until the typical mix of germs and violent expropriation dislocated them with the arrival of Dutch and English settlers. The hamlet was named "Rockville Centre" in 1849, after local Methodist preacher and community leader Mordecai "Rock" Smith. It was incorporated as a village in 1893. Rockville Centre emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as a commuter community connected to New York by the Long Island Rail Road. In 1871 the Rev. Charles P. Corner became the minister in charge of the young churches, St. Marks and St. James. The Mother church was severed from the parent body and was organized as the First Methodist Protestant Church, with the Rev. R. S. Hulsart as pastor.