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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List of churches, by county
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   Photographic Inventory

Christ [Episcopal] Church
Newark, Essex County

This was a relatively early Gothic Revival church, built in 1848-50 and known then as Christ Church. The architect was Frank Wills, a leading architect in the Ecclesiology movement in the Episcopal church, who also designed the House of Prayer on North Broad. It appears to have strong antecedents in St. James the Less in Philadelphia, one of the most influential churches in the mid-19th century. Note the steeply sloping roof, the stout buttresses and the narrow, Gothic windows—all elements that were to become common in this country. It was enlarged with a chancel and transepts in 1871. None of that is surprising when one learns that Bishop George Washington Doane, an early proponent of the Gothic Revival style, dedicated the church and undoubtedly had a voice in its design.
     Located at 76 Prospect Street in the Ironbound section, the greatly modified brownstone building is now the Pan American C.M.A. Church parish center.

 

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Copyright (c) 2001 Frank L. Greenagel