In the late 1890s the Diocese of Camden purchased a large tract of land upon which it built the Convent of the Order of Perpetual Rosary, and later, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. Now over 100 years old, the cornerstone of the Convent of the Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary on Haddon Avenue was laid on October 26, 1902. Known to most Camden residents simply as "the Convent", the Perpetual Rosary Church served the Catholic residents of the Parkside neighborhood of Camden.