View source for Cold Spring Presbyterian Church

{{Short description|Historic church in Cape May County, New Jersey, US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox NRHP
| name                           = Cold Spring Presbyterian Church
| nrhp_type                      =
| image                          = Cold Spring Presby from SE.JPG
| caption                        =
| location                       = 780 Seashore Road<br>[[Cold Spring, New Jersey]]
| coordinates                    = {{coord|38|58|35.26|N|74|54|59.11|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin                       = USA New Jersey Cape May County#New Jersey#USA
| area                           =
| built                          = 1823
| architect                      = [[Thomas H. Hughes|Thomas Hurst Hughes]]
| architecture                   = Federal
| added                          = June 14, 1991
| refnum                         = 91000785<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2013a|dateform=mdy}}</ref>
| designated_other1_name         = New Jersey Register of Historic Places
| designated_other1_abbr         = NJRHP
| designated_other1_link         = New Jersey Register of Historic Places
| designated_other1_date         = May 1, 1991
| designated_other1_number       = 999<ref name=NJRHP>{{cite web | title=New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Cape May County 
 | url=https://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/Cape%20May.pdf | publisher=[[New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection]] - Historic Preservation Office | page=4 | date=March 27, 2019  }}</ref>
| designated_other1_num_position = bottom
| designated_other1_color        = #ffc94b
}}

The '''Cold Spring Presbyterian Church''' is a [[Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)|Presbyterian]] church in Cold Spring, New Jersey, founded in 1714.

== Building ==
The historic two-story red brick building located at 780 Seashore Road in the [[Cold Spring, New Jersey|Cold Spring]] section of [[Lower Township, New Jersey|Lower Township]], in [[Cape May County, New Jersey|Cape May County]], [[New Jersey]]. The current church building, known as "Old Brick", was constructed in 1823<ref>{{cite web|title=Old Brick; About Us|url=http://www.oldbrickpresbyterian.com/ABOUTOLDBRICK.htm|publisher=Cold Spring Presbyterian Church|access-date=2012-06-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828044546/http://www.oldbrickpresbyterian.com/ABOUTOLDBRICK.htm|archive-date=2008-08-28|url-status=dead}}</ref>  by [[Thomas H. Hughes]], who was also the architect of [[Congress Hall (Cape May hotel)|Congress Hall]] in [[Cape May, New Jersey]]. This red brick building replaced a frame and shingle church erected in 1764, which itself replaced a 1714 log [[meeting house|meetinghouse]].<ref name="NYT1896">{{cite news 
  | title =Famous Old New Jersey Church, A Presbyterian Congregation Formed 182 Years Ago
  | newspaper = [[The New York Times]]
  | date =May 3, 1896
  | url =https://www.nytimes.com/1896/05/03/archives/famous-old-newjersey-church-a-presbyterian-congregation-formed-182.html
  }}, reprinted in "The First Resort," Ben Miller, Exit Zero Publishing, 2009, Cape May, New Jersey.</ref> The church's cemetery, '''Cold Spring Presbyterian Cemetery''', is the site of a 1742 grave (that of Sarah Eldridge Spicer) and of the most [[Mayflower]] descendants anywhere outside [[Massachusetts]]. The church was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on June 14, 1991, for its significance in settlement, architecture, religion, and government.<ref name="nrhpdoc">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=91000785}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Cold Spring Presbyterian Church |publisher=[[National Park Service]]|first1=Robert |last1=Craig |date=November 20, 1990 }} With {{NRHP url|id=91000785|photos=y|title=accompanying 25 pictures}}</ref>

==History==
The congregation was founded in 1714. The first regular pastor was John Bradner, who served from 1715 until 1721. Hughston Hughes was pastor for one year, starting in 1726, before being dismissed for "his too free use of intoxicating drinks."<ref name="NYT1896"/>

[[Samuel Finley]] was pastor for several years.  Finley, who was a graduate of the [[Log College]], later became president of the College of New Jersey, the predecessor of [[Princeton University]]. Another Log College graduate, Daniel Lawrence, was pastor from 1752 until his death in 1766. His tombstone in the adjacent graveyard was inscribed

{{Blockquote|In yonder sacred house I spent my breath,<br>Now, silent, mouldering here I lie in death,<br>Those silent lips shall wake and yet declare,<br>A dread amen to truths they publish there<ref name="NYT1896"/> }}

The two hundredth anniversary of the church was celebrated on August 16, 1914. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] sent a congratulatory letter.<ref>{{cite news|title=Church 200 Years Old|accessdate=August 17, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 17, 1914|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1914/08/17/archives/church-200-years-old-john-wanamaker-gives-to-cape-may-presbyterian.html}}</ref>
<gallery heights="160px" widths="240px" mode="nolines">
File:Cold Spring Presbyterian Church and Cemetery, NJ.jpg|Church and Cemetery
File:Cold Spring NJ Old Brick Presby PHS723.jpg|On a pre-1923 postcard
File:Cold Spring Presby from SW.JPG|View from the southwest. Note that the rear section was added since the postcard picture
</gallery>

==Notable burials==
{{Category see also |Burials at Cold Spring Presbyterian Church}}
{{Infobox cemetery
| name        = Cold Spring Presbyterian Cemetery
| image       = Cold Spring Presbyterian Church cemetery.jpg
| imagesize   = 
| alt         =
| caption     = Veterans Field of Honor at the cemetery
| map_type    = 
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| abandoned   = <!-- or | closed = -->
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| website     = 
| findagraveid=1648965
| footnotes   =
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}}

*[[T. Millet Hand]] (1902–1956), represented [[New Jersey's 2nd congressional district]] in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1945 to 1957.<ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000154 Thomas Millet Hand], [[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]. Accessed August 16, 2007.</ref>
*[[J. Thompson Baker]] (1847–1919), represented [[New Jersey's 2nd congressional district]] in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1913 to 1915.<ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000065 Jacob Thompson], [[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]. Accessed August 16, 2007.</ref>
*[[Thomas H. Hughes]] (1769–1839), represented New Jersey's at-large congressional district in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1829 to 1833.<ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000928 Thomas Hurst Hughes], [[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]. Accessed August 16, 2007.</ref>
*[[Charles W. Sandman Jr.]] (1921–1985), represented [[New Jersey's 2nd congressional district]] in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1913 to 1915.<ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000045 Charles William Sandman, Jr.], [[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]. Accessed August 16, 2007.</ref>
*Lieutenant [[Richard Wickes]] (died June 29, 1776) [[American Revolutionary War]], mortally wounded at the [[Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Revolutionary War Sites in Cape May, New Jersey |url=http://www.revolutionarywarnewjersey.com/new_jersey_revolutionary_war_sites/towns/cape_may_nj_revolutionary_war_sites.htm}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Richard Wickes Gravestone.jpg|[[Richard Wickes]]
File:Cold Spring Presby stone 1a.JPG|Memucan Hughes, II (1857)
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Cape May County, New Jersey]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}[http://www.coldspringchurch.com]
* {{HABS |survey=NJ-270 |id=nj0422 |title=Cold Spring Presbyterian Church, West side Seashore Road, Cold Spring, Cape May County, NJ |photos=9 |color=|dwgs= |data=5 |cap=1 }}
* "[http://www.capemaytimes.com/history/cold-spring-church.htm Cape May Landmarks: Cold Spring Church]" - ''[[Cape May Times]]'' Article
*[http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/NJ/CM.html#R9T0WRAFM Cold Spring Presbyterian Cemetery] at [[The Political Graveyard]]

{{Lower Township, New Jersey}}
{{NRHP in Cape May County, New Jersey}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lower Township, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Churches completed in 1823]]
[[Category:19th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States]]
[[Category:Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Presbyterian churches in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Cemeteries in Cape May County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:U.S. Route 9]]
[[Category:Churches in Cape May County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Cape May County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:New Jersey Register of Historic Places]]
[[Category:1714 establishments in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Presbyterian cemeteries in New Jersey|Cold Spring]]
[[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in New Jersey]]