 Cedarville, Lawrence Township founded by 1820, built 1868 Church Lane This large meetinghouse has a classical look because of the prominent pediment and pilasters, but the double brackets are an Italianate influence common throughout the state just after the Civil War. It was built in 1868 and sits across the street from the Presbyterian church. Cedarville is not a large town, but there are also Baptist and Episcopal churches in town. It is one of relatively few old Methodist churches in the southern part of the state that have retained the original wooden clapboards. The congregation is to be commended for the excellent condition of the building. HABS  Cedarville, Lawrence Township founded 1836, built 1873 The congregation was organized in 1836, a date proclaimed in stanined glass above the entry. The church was built in 1873, a time when pinnacles and exaggerated angles on steeples and gables was popular. Unfortunately clad in aluminum siding, the texture of wooden clapboards or shingles has been lost, and with it, any of the charm of this vernacular design. Cedarville was also the location of an early Baptist church. Baptists lived in the Fairfield Township area near Cedarville but did not organize until 1836. Although Nathan Lawrence, a prominent Cedarville resident and Baptist, left a plot of land to the church upon his death at mid century, no building was erected at the time. The first Cedarville Baptist Church was built, instead, on land owned by Butler Newcomb, a deacon of the Dividing Creek Baptist Church. Upon Newcomb's death the church was willed the money with which to purchase land and building. In 1836 the church was moved to a more central spot on Main Street where it still exists. ---from the NPS website on coastal heritage  Center Grove, Lawrence Township founded 1804, built 1884 What appears at first to be a plain wood-frame meetinghouse-style church is, in fact, a rather interesting assemblage of architectural elements. The interrupted pediment, "supported" by double brackets means a post Civil War design, as does the open belfry and its arches, which are from a later period. The elongated windows, with a slight arch to the lintel, are surmounted by small pent roofs, similar to that over the entrance, which has a Federal style window. The building was, in fact, erected in 1884 by a congregation organized in 1804.  Cedarville, Lawrence Township founded 1838, built c.1886 About 1838 Presbyterians in the area erected this large red brick church, which is somewhat similar to the Presbyterian church in Pittsgrove, about 25 miles away in Salem county, but fifty years older. The brick pilasters and pediment are not unlike the "bankfront" churches found in several south Jersey towns, although this one has a steeple (added in 1884-1889). That specific style was apparently based on St. George's Methodist Episcopal church in Philadelphia—an amalgam of Georgian and Greek Revival elements. The church's website says the front of the building was erected in 1838 and the belfry in 1884-1889; I accept the date for the belfry, but 1838 seems rather early for the façade of this building, although I would not dispute that a portion of the building dates to that time. The current minister in recent correspondence (August 2004) tells me the church has an old lithograph that shows the façade essentially unchanged since 1838 or 1839. I can't argue with the facts, so will have to revise my chronology about the first appearance of this style of architecture; an 1838 date makes this the first church in the state to adopt this style, probably by at least twenty years, and makes it roughly contemporaneous with St. George's. This is a daughter church of the Presbyterian congregation in Fairton, organized by a part of that congregation who wanted to worship closer to home in 1838. In the year 1789, Ethan Osborn came from Dartmouth College to the was ordained and served that church faithfully for the next 55 years. During this period, the communities of Fairton and Cedarville were growing rapidly, and there was a need in both communities to establish local houses of worship. Finally, in 1838, a segment of the Old Stone Church congregation left to establish the First Presbyterian Church of Cedarville, and the “front section” of the church building was constructed at that time. The belfry was constructed between 1884 and 1889, and housed a 900-pound bell. http://www.freewebs.com/cedarvillepres/  Cedarville founded 18--, built 1889 Eastern Star Lodge An Eastern Star Lodge now occupies this former Presbyterian church. It's a bit like the Episcopal church in Spring Lake, but not as large or elaborate. I am uncertain about the date of erection; by stylistic clue I estimate the 1880s or 1890s. The building was closed as a church about 1957. There was an early Presbyterian church in the village by 1745 or shortly thereafter, according to Elmer. per a web search: Emma Osborn Thompson only child of Benjamin Thompson 6th & Anna L. ThompsonSo we are semi-definite at 1890 for this church. |
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Lawrence Township |