The Roman Catholic Church and Rectory of St. Rose of Lima, viewed from across McKenna Square, 1934.

The triangular park site was created in 1917, when the city cleared the ad-hoc cottages of Irish immigrant workers there as part of the widening of 165th Street. The roadway in the foreground had previously been known as Croton Street. In 1924, the square was named after Private William McKenna, a soldier killed in World War I.

St. Rose of Lima, in the background was designed by architect Joseph H. McGuire and completed in 1905.