Roseville, Newark

Originally called "Rowesville," Roseville was farmland at the time of the Civil War, but during the conflict most of the area was turned into Union Army training and camping grounds.

Growth was also spurred by the Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western Railroad, which maintained a train station in Roseville for many years (closed in 1982 by New Jersey Transit).

For generations, Roseville received Newarkers who had acquired the prosperity to leave the crowded tenements of the Ironbound and the central part of the city.

At the turn of the century, the northern section of the district was predominantly Irish-American, but the rest of the neighborhood was not associated with any single ethnic group.

However, since the 1980s, increasing numbers of Hispanic families have moved into the neighborhood, hailing from Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and various Latin American mainland countries.

In the wake of the 1967 Newark civil unrest, the pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church, Monsignor William J. Linder, founded the New Community Corporation, a non-profit organization providing job training, housing and medical care.

This church was created by donated land from Cyrus Peck, the original owner of the farmland surrounding the area.