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The authoritative source
on
early churches of New Jersey
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the 18th & 19th century churches in the state and add to
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Photographic
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Swedish
Bethlehem Church
Dover, Morris County

L-shaped
plans for small congregations were
a staple of Methodist and Baptist congregations throughout the mid-Atlantic
states, but this church shows that other denominations adopted the plan as well.
The round arch windows are common to many late century churches, leading me to
suspect they were manufactured rather than made by a local carpenter. But for
the windows and the steeple, this is a domestic building in plan and scale.
It was originally built as the Swedish Bethlehem (Free Mission) Church, presumably
a Lutheran or Methodist congregation; there are three other Swedish churches
in
Dover, including Lutheran and Methodist, so I am not sure of the denomination.
Obviously there was
a substantial immigration from Sweden in the 1890s, but of that I am totally
ignorant.
The building, like several of the old Dover churches, now hosts a Hispanic congregation,
the Primera Iglesia de Pentecostal de Dover. The
congregation was founded in 1898 and built this church in the same
year.
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