The town of Lowell—now known as Lowellville—was originally settled by railroad and steel workers in the mid-1800s. Twenty of those early residents were Irish Catholics, who were served by the chaplain of the Humility of Mary Sisters of Villa Maria, Pennsylvania, who traveled three-and-a-half miles to offer Masses in their homes.
The community laid a foundation for a church in 1868, but it was abandoned when work diminished in the area. The mission of Lowell purchased land for a cemetery in the late 1800s, but parishioners continued to worship out of their homes until their brick church was completed in 1884, with the first Mass being celebrated on Christmas Day that year.
The parish continued to grow, welcoming Italian immigrant families in the 1890s and continuing to add wings and buildings to the campus. The parish never officially opened a school, but a Humility of Mary Sister taught children in the pews of the church in the mid-1900s for several decades.
In 1962, the parish purchased a local bowling alley which was first used as an educational center and later became the temporary church, while a new church was being built. The church was proposed to honor the parish’s 100th anniversary in 1966. Fifty-five thousand tons of limestone was collected at the Carbon Limestone Co. by parish volunteers. At the Easter Vigil, April 13, 1968, the pastor lit the paschal candle at the temporary church and led the congregation in procession across the street to install the candle in the new church. Parish donations allowed for improvements to the cemetery in the 1990s, including a new chapel and a fence around the perimeter.
Today, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary collaborates with Christ Our Savior parish in Struthers. The parish’s dedication to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary reflects their devotion to Christ and his Blessed Mother.
Description from The March of the Eucharist, 2nd edition (2025) published by The Catholic Echo
