The Eureka Tabernacle Number 29 of the Order of the Galilean Fisherman, established in Rockville in 1903, became a vital center of the African American community. It enabled Rockville's African American residents to work together to meet community needs not provided by government, churches, schools, or labor unions. In this building they held meetings, lectures, classes, plays, concerts, and dances presented by other African American organizations. They also provided the community with land for public housing and schools. In 1917, they bought a lot in Lincoln Park and established a cemetery, now owned and managed by Mount Calvary Baptist Church. The Order of the Galilean Fisherman had been established in Baltimore in 1856 to provide mutual aid among African Americans, including insurance for injuries and illness and expenses for lawsuits and funerals. Rivaling churches as community institutions, such voluntary fraternal associations became places of support, entrepreneurship, service, and leadership.
