By 1910, North Washington Street was a vital center of Rockville's African-American community, lined on both sides with African-American residences and businesses and serving as the heart of its cultural life. Among its most important sites was Eureka Tabernacle No. 29 of the Order of the Galilean Fisherman, chartered in 1912, which enabled African-American residents to work together to meet community needs. This benevolent society provided health benefits and burial costs at a time when such insurance was commercially unavailable to African-Americans, and Rockville's chapter included many of the community's most prominent officers and members. For decades, the temple was a center of social life, hosting dances, concerts, lectures, and plays for many African-American social organizations. The organization also provided the community with land for public housing and schools. In 1917, it bought a lot in Lincoln Park and established a cemetery that is now owned and managed by Mount Calvary Baptist Church. The Order of the Galilean Fishermen had been organized in Baltimore in 1856 to provide mutual aid among African-Americans, including insurance for injuries and illness and expenses for lawsuits and funerals. Alongside churches, such fraternal associations became places of support, entrepreneurship, service, and leadership.
