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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Changewater Methodist Episcopal Church
Lebanon Township, Hunterdon County

Founded 1870; built 1900-1901

Changewater was the “first settlement in the Musconetcong Valley to warrant cartographic recognition,” appearing on a 1748 map. It was the site of several mills and quarries as well as an early ironworks, which required water to power the bellows, an ample supply of wood to make charcoal, and iron ore. Of the three, the supply of wood was probably the most important, for when the nearby hardwood forests were denuded, the ironmakers departed for other locations. There are no mills, furnaces or quarries anymore—just a few dozen houses strung along the one road paralleling the river and a couple of dwellings across the river in Warren County. Except for the addition of the ramp, this church has hardly changed in the century since it was built. The Gothic revival influence clearly remained strong, even after half a century.

 

 

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Copyright (c) 2001 Frank L. Greenagel