Rehoboth Beach’s Sisters Cottage In The Early 20th Century

This picture postcard from Rehoboth Beach was mailed in 1908.  It shows priests and nuns in front of the Sisters Cottage along the south end of the Boardwalk. The cottage was part of the Roman Catholic complex in that area which also included St. Agnes By The Sea church at the corner of Brooklyn Avenue and the Boardwalk.

The Roman Catholic diocese responsible for Delaware purchased land in 1905 from the Rehoboth Beach Camp Meeting Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church to build a chapel and vacation cottages for sisters in the Franciscan teaching and nursing order. There were no Catholic churches in Sussex County at the time, and the little chapel built on the property was soon filled to overflowing.