Less Stately Mansions: the 18th and 19th century churches of Hunterdon County

There are 101 surviving churches and meetinghouses in the county that were built before 1900. Only Burlington, Essex and Monmouth have more. Thirty-two were erected by Methodist congregations and 24 by Presbyterians. There are no Congregational churches, which was the most widespread denomination in the colonies at the time of the Revolution, and there never have been any. There is a single Quaker meetinghouse, although the Quakers were among the earliest settlers, and William Penn and George Fox owned vast acreage in the county. In spite of the fact that Catholics make up almost half the state’s church-going population, there were only three Roman Catholic churches at the close of the nineteenth century, and a equal number of Lutheran churches despite the extensive German settlements. Almost two-thirds of the churches were built between the Civil War and 1900, a pattern that is common in the state; two were built in the eighteenth century and 23 were built before 1850. A few have changed remarkably little over two centuries, while others have been remodeled beyond all recognition. Two are simply ruins, but three-fourths are still used for religious services, most by their original congregations. The troubling news is that a significant number are at risk, with dwindling congregations and financial resources too limited to afford even basic maintenance, presided over by clergy and a board that may not be qualified or inclined to value buildings as important historic architecture. Most of the popular architectural styles of the nineteenth century are represented here, although in greatly attenuated manner. This is a churchscape of carpenters, not architects. About half the churches might best be described as vernacular—simple meetinghouses, hardly distinguishable from a country schoolhouse. Five (the old stone Baptist church in Locktown, the High Bridge Reformed church, the Mt. Salem Methodist Episcopal Church near Pittstown, the Quaker meetinghouse in Quakertown, and St. Thomas Episcopal church in Alexandria Township) are on the National Register of Historic Places. The churchscape reflects the plans and style that were popular when they were erected. Thus we have Greek Revival churches in the 1850s, and churches that are primarily Gothic or an eclectic mix of Neomedieval styles from the 1870s through the end of the century. In the last decade of the century we can find churches that are a pastiche of elements borrowed from a variety of periods, especially those that can be obtained inexpensively from milling operations by mail order. There are exceptions, of course—a few were designed by accomplished professionals from Philadelphia and New York: the Reformed church in High Bridge, the Methodist church in Flemington, and the Catholic and Episcopal churches in Lambertville are the best examples. Read more