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The Old Bergen Church is a historic church congregation in
Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Hudson County Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in ...
,
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, United States. Established in 1660 in what was then the Dutch colony of
New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
, it is the oldest continuous religious congregation in what is today the State of New Jersey. The congregation is jointly affiliated with the
Reformed Church in America The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a Mainline Protestant, mainline Reformed tradition, Reformed Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 152,317 members. From its beginning in 1628 unti ...
and the
Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...
. The church was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on August 14, 1973. The original church building was constructed in 1680 and the current edifice was built in 1841.


History

The congregation was formed in the Dutch colonial village of
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
in 1660, located across the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
from the town of
New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
in what is today
Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
.http://oldbergenchurch.org/history.html Accessed January 4, 2009. The first services were held in a log schoolhouse. In 1680 an octagonal,
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
church was built by William Day. The church was located on Vroom Street, between Bergen and Tuers Avenues. The congregation outgrew the original church and a second church was erected in 1773. This church was also made of sandstone and was located at the corner of Bergen Avenue and Vroom Street. The third and current church was built in 1841 by ''William H. Kirk and Company'' and ''Clark and Van Nest''.


Notable burials

The Old Bergen Church Cemetery and the Speer Cemetery are affiliated with the church. * Jane Teurs (d. 1834) -
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
patriot.


Gallery

File:Old Bergen Church 1938.jpg, Front of the Old Bergen Church in 1938. File:Dutchreformedchurchbergen1680.png, Original church from 1680.


See also

*
Bergen, New Netherland Bergen was a part of the 17th century province of New Netherland, in the area in northeastern New Jersey along the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers that would become contemporary Hudson and Bergen Counties. Though it only officially existed as an ind ...
*
Bergen Square Bergen Square, at the intersection of Bergen Avenue and Academy Street in Jersey City, is in the southwestern part of the much larger Journal Square district. A commercial residential area, it contains an eclectic array of architectural styl ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Hudson County, New Jersey The following properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Hudson County, New Jersey This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Hudson Count ...
*
Oldest churches in the United States The designation of the oldest church in the United States requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving ''building'', and the oldest in the sense of oldest Christian church ...
*
Van Wagenen House The Van Wagenen House, also known as Apple Tree House, is located near Bergen Square in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 16, 2006. History The hous ...
* Newkirk House *
List of cemeteries in Hudson County, New Jersey List of the cemeteries in Hudson County, New Jersey Hudson County is home to many churches and cemeteries, some of which provide significant open areas in otherwise congested residential areas.Adams, p. 64. History There are some shared characte ...
*
Voorleser Voorleser was the title given to a highly responsible citizen in New Netherland and later Dutch colonies, who had semi-official duties in local law, education and religion. Origin and use The word ''voorleser'' as used in English texts is a varia ...


External links


Old Bergen Church
- Official Website


View of Old Bergen Church
via
Google Street View Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, and has since expa ...


References

{{NRHP in Hudson County, New Jersey Churches in Hudson County, New Jersey Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey History of Jersey City, New Jersey Churches in Jersey City, New Jersey Churches completed in 1841 Reformed Church in America churches in New Jersey Presbyterian churches in New Jersey 1660 establishments in the Dutch Empire 1660 establishments in North America National Register of Historic Places in Hudson County, New Jersey Establishments in New Netherland New Jersey Register of Historic Places