One For The Record Book It's The Oldest Church in New Jersey

Religion is old, a big part of history throughout the world, throughout the nation, and right here in New Jersey. As one of the original landing sites for many coming to America in the 17th century, New Jersey has a deep history in what is "recent" history compared to other parts of the world.

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Unsplash.com Daniel McCullough

According to NJ.Gov, "The colonial history of New Jersey began in 1609 when Henry Hudson first claimed the region on behalf of Holland and renamed it New Netherlands." So we go back to the 1600s when we first began building here in the Garden State. So it's no surprise that the oldest church dates back to ca. 1660.

According to Wikipedia, "The Old Bergen Church is a historic church congregation in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Established in 1660 in what was then the Dutch colony of New Netherland, it is the oldest continuous religious congregation in what is today the State of New Jersey."

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The Old Bergen Church is now 363 years old and has a rich history in Hudson County. The website describes the beginning of the congregation "In 1660, the settlers of the village of Bergen sought the founding of a place of worship. They began by holding services in a log schoolhouse and then decided to build a new structure for their congregation, the First Dutch Reformed Church. Shortly, in 1661, a burial ground and about four acres of land for a church were reserved for that purpose. They also started raising funds for the construction by collecting 417 guilders by taxation the following year."

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So there it is New Jersey's Oldest church, the Old Bergen Church located at 1 Highland Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07306.

Have you ever visited this church? share your thoughts and post your comments below :)

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