View source for First Reformed Church of New Brunswick

{{short description|Historic church in New Jersey, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name         = First Reformed Church
| nrhp_type    =
| image        = First Reformed Church, New Brunswick, NJ - south view.jpg
| caption      = First Reformed Church, 2018
| location     = 160 Neilson Street, [[New Brunswick, New Jersey]]
| coordinates  = {{coord|40|29|42|N|74|26|32|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin     = USA New Jersey Middlesex County#New Jersey#USA
| map_label    = First Reformed Church
| built        = 1812
| architect    = 
| architecture = Italianate, Georgian, Federal
| added        = September 27, 1988
| area         = 
| refnum       = 88001703<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a|refnum=88001703}}</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 = August 15, 1988
  | designated_other1_number = 1862<ref name="NJRHP">{{cite web |title=New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Middlesex County |url=https://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/MIDDLESEX.pdf#page=7 |publisher=[[New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection]] – Historic Preservation Office |page=7 |date=March 25, 2024 |quote=listed as the First Dutch Reformed Church}}</ref>
  | designated_other1_num_position = bottom
  | designated_other1_color = #ffc94b
}}
The '''First Reformed Church''', historically known as the '''Dutch Reformed Church''', is located in [[New Brunswick, New Jersey|New Brunswick]], [[New Jersey]] on 160 Neilson Street. It is adjacent to the '''First Reformed Church Cemetery''' in the churchyard. The education building is located next to the sanctuary building with the street address being 9 Bayard Street. The church building was documented by the [[Historic American Buildings Survey]] (HABS) in 1960.<ref>{{cite web |title=First Reformed Church of New Brunswick |url=https://loc.gov/pictures/item/nj0110/ |date=1960 |publisher=[[Historic American Buildings Survey]]}}</ref> It was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on September 27, 1988, for its significance in architecture and religion.<ref name="nris"/><ref name="nrhpdoc">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=88001703}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Dutch Reformed Church |publisher=[[National Park Service]]|first1=Janet W. |last1=Foster |date=January 1987 }} With {{NRHP url|id=88001703|photos=y|title=accompanying 13 photos}}</ref>

==History==
The congregation was formed in 1717.<ref>{{Cite web| title =Church of the Three Mile Run| quote =... But, dissension grew and by 1717, an agreement was reached whereby the Three Mile Run and New Brunswick Churches would operate as one, and the Six and Ten Mile Run Churches would do the same.| url =http://www.lincolnbittner.com/church_of_the_three_mile_run.html| accessdate =2011-07-05| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120401135559/http://www.lincolnbittner.com/church_of_the_three_mile_run.html| archive-date =2012-04-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title = First Reformed Church of New Brunswick | publisher = First Reformed Church of New Brunswick | url = http://firstreformedchurch.net/history-of-frc/ | accessdate = 2011-07-05 | quote =The Reformed Dutch Church of New Brunswick was organized in 1717, when Dutch folks at the River and Lawrence Brook built a church. It was a wooden building, fronting the River and occupying the corner lot at Burnet and Schureman Streets, and like most of the early Dutch churches, its breadth was greater than its depth. The total number of pews was 50, and the church could seat 300 worshippers. It was not completed for several years but remained in service upwards of 50 years. }}</ref> The church building was constructed in 1812 and features [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] and [[Federal architecture]]. The steeple was added in 1835.<ref name="nrhpdoc"/> By 1867, three new churches had been formed by members of the church: [[Spotswood, New Jersey|Spotswood]] (1820), [[Middlebush Reformed Church]] (1834), and [[Second Reformed Church of New Brunswick]] (1843).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Steele |first1=Richard H. |title=Historical discourse delivered at the celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the First Reformed Dutch Church, New Brunswick, N.J. |date=1867 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historicaldiscou00steele/page/157 157–158] |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldiscou00steele/ |quote=Address of [[David D. Demarest|Rev. D. D. Demarest]]}}</ref> In 1971 the church was set on fire.<ref>{{cite news |title='Suspicious' Fire Damages Church in New Brunswick |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/30/archives/suspicious-fire-damages-church-in-new-brunswick.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 30, 1971 |accessdate=2011-05-20 }}</ref>

{{Anchor|cemetery}}
{{Infobox cemetery
| name        = First Reformed Church Cemetery
| image       = First Reformed Churchyard, New Brunswick, NJ.jpg
| imagesize   =
| alt         =
| caption     =
| established =
| abandoned   = <!-- or | closed = -->
| location    = Churchyard
| country     =
| coordinates =
| type        =
| style       =
| owner       =
| size        =
| graves      =
| interments  =
| cremations  =
| mapframe-id = Q126765689
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
}}

==Notable burials==
* [[Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh]], first President of Queen's College (now [[Rutgers University]])
* [[Ira Condict]], third President of Queen's College (now [[Rutgers University]])
* [[Theodore Frelinghuysen]], [[United States Senator]] from New Jersey, seventh President of Queen's College (now [[Rutgers University]])

==Gallery==
<gallery heights=180px widths=220px mode="nolines">
File:March 1960 REAR (WEST) AND SOUTH ELEVATIONS - First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, Neilson Street, New Brunswick, Middlesex County, NJ HABS NJ,12-NEBRU,2-3 (cropped).tif|HABS photo of church and cemetery from 1960.
File:March 1960 INTERIOR TOWARD THE PULPIT - First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, Neilson Street, New Brunswick, Middlesex County, NJ HABS NJ,12-NEBRU,2-7.tif|The church interior, March 1960.
File:First Reformed Church, New Brunswick, NJ - information sign.jpg|New Brunswick historical information
File:First Reformed Church, New Brunswick, NJ - Church house.jpg|March 2018
</gallery>

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

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|First Reformed Church (New Brunswick, New Jersey)|First Reformed Church}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{HABS |survey=NJ-716 |id=nj0110 |title=First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, Neilson Street, New Brunswick |photos=10 |color= |dwgs= |data=5 |cap= }}

{{National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey}}
{{NRHP in Middlesex County, New Jersey}}

[[Category:Reformed Church in America churches in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Federal architecture in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Georgian architecture in New Jersey]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Churches in New Brunswick, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Churches completed in 1812]]
[[Category:1812 establishments in New Jersey]]
[[Category:1717 establishments in New Jersey]]
[[Category:New Jersey Register of Historic Places]]