Our History is a rich one. The order of The Knights of Columbus was founded in 1882 by Father Michael J. McGivney in New Haven, Connecticut.

     Fifty-six years later, Rock Creek Council was born on June 12, 1938, in the town of Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland, as the 2797th of our order.  Its birthday was preceded by a serious period of gestation, sound pre-natal care by its founders, and a firm resolve that it would be nurtured faithfully through life to become a starry jewel in the grand firmament of Columbianism.

     Our birth day was celebrated by a gala major First Degree for forty-five charter members at Old Saint Mary's Parish Hall, in Gaithersburg.  The Degree was followed by a sumptuous banquet.

     With our baptism concluded, life began for us as we elected our Council Officers, under the leadership of Joseph A. Cantrel, our First Grand Knight.  Our first meetings were held in the loft of an old barn on the premises of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Bethesda.  We plotted our course, acquired robes and regalia, and contemplated our council publication, which at first was only a typewritten newsletter issued periodically.  Our first printed publication, the "Knight Chatter," was issued on the 12th of September, 1940, and has continued, with few exceptions, throughout the years as a monthly (except August) publication.

     In a few years we had established a sound financial status, our membership began to increase, growing pains set in, and our sights were set in acquiring a home for our council.  We though we were there in early 1941 when a charter member arranged for a gift of a parcel of land next to Our Lady of Lourdes Church.  Our dreams of a club house site were not to be, as the pastor of the parish, our chaplain, needed the land to expand his school.  We yielded to his request, and donated the property to the parish.

     Soon after, we lost our meeting place as the old barn was torn down to make way for church and school buildings.
 

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