The authoritative source on
  early churches of New Jersey

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We've created a database and photographic inventory on more than half the 18th & 19th century churches in the state and add to it each month. We welcome and solicit all contributions and suggestions from our visitors.

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   Photographic Inventory

Cape Island Baptist Church
Cape May, Cape May County

  

Built in 1879, this delightful church, now the Franklin Street Methodist church, seems almost playful in its use of surface detail and texture. Its basic plan is an L-shaped building, common in the Methodist church, but with the tower set along side the front elevation. The verticality of the false buttresses is offset by the strong horizontal emphasis of the siding. And then there are the round windows set just above the paired gothic windows, and the multiple layers of the window and door surrounds, and the scrollwork above the pediment of the door, and . . . . I imagine the carpenters had a great time constructing this church, seeing who could add more decoration.
     The architect was C.H. Brown. Measured drawings were done in the 1930s by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). The spire was removed after a serious storm early in the 20th century.

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Copyright (c) 2002 Frank L. Greenagel