The
authoritative source on
early churches of New Jersey
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First Methodist Episcopal Church
Williamstown, Gloucester County
This fine large frame church is at least the third one on the site. It was built in 1860 to replace an 1844 church, which replaced an earlier church. It includes the strong shape of the Greek Revival pediment with the square tower of the Wren-Gibbs style. The round-arch windows are typical of the Romanesque, and the cupola, which replaced a spire in 1888, is from the Georgian tradition. The cluster of three narrow windows in the tower is another borrowing from the Romanesque. One might term this either vernacular or eclectic, although the latter is a term we usually use with reference to the last decades of the nineteenth century. The church cost $6,763.20.
The Methodist church in Port Republic , only 25 miles away, erected 10 years later, was patterned after this church, a fact confirmed in a church history booklet sent to me by Reverend Howard Cassaday. The plans for this building were loaned to the Port Republic congregation.
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