Community Church

This building was the original Rockaway Community Church, built in 1912-1914.  Before then, churchgoers gathered at a beach bonfire on Sunday evenings, everyone contributing to the service. The building took a bit longer than expected to complete after the parishioner in charge of the collections left town with the money!  ​

On March 16, 1925, a meeting was held here to form a Commercial Club. The men announced that membership would be limited to men only. The women present, undeterred, simply rose, moved into the adjoining community room, and formed their own organization, the Women’s Civic Club of Rockaway. Thirteen women signed their names that day. ​

The Women’s Civic Club became a force in town life. In 1945, they sold the old Sohler Building and, the following year, purchased the lots where they would build their own clubhouse. ​

When the new church was finally completed in 1974, the building was converted into an apartment and store for the Rockaway Thrift Shop.  ​

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Today, as the meeting place of the Lions Club, the building continues to serve exactly as it always has, a gathering place, shaped by the people who fill it.