First Baptist Church - Newtown Historic District - Newtown, PA
N 40° 13.817 W 074° 56.185
18T E 505409 N 4453318
This church has a cornerstone which reads 1905. It used to serve a Baptist congregation, but today is it s synagogue. The building is also a contributing structure to the Newtown Historic District, from the north and south district expansion.
Waymark Code: WM8FEB
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 03/25/2010
Views: 4
It took a whole lot of detective work to figure out this one. I discovered this old stone church by pure luck. I noticed it was the home of a Lubavitch Synagogue. There was a cornerstone from 1982 but the building looked incredibly old. Sure enough I soon spied a 1905 cornerstone out front at the left hand corner and to the left side of the main entrance. (I eventually figured out the 1982 expansion was the doing of the Baptist Church).
I was curious as to the original inhabitants of this church as there is no way an edifice like this could ever have been for a synagogue, they simply are not built this way. I knocked on a couple of doors and eventually found an old timer who explained years ago this used to be a Baptist Church. He offered no other information.
I figured since this is an historic district, there has to be narratives to provide conclusive evidence. The problem is Newtown Historic District decided to not use addresses but lot numbers. So, I got the lot number, matched it up to the nomination form and sure enough, this was called The First Baptist Church. Newtown Borough even has a fantastic thirty-four part series of interpretives about the historic district, seemingly everywhere, except for this site.
All traces of its former origins have been removed, most likely by the current occupants. I finally did a new query and punched in 1905 church in Newtown, PA. I struck pay dirt. Here is my reward:
First Baptist Church organized in 1901. Our first building was constructed in 1905 on State Street in Newtown. As the congregation grew down through the years, it was necessary to expand the facility three more times. In the early 1990's we recognized that our current location in Newtown was not adequate for our long-term mission. In 1992, we began planning to relocate to a 23 acre parcel at the intersection of Washington Crossing and Stoopville Roads. Construction of our new campus began in early 2003, and we moved into our new facility in July of 2004. Our new location is called Grace Point.
A Dept. of the Interior employee was kind enough to e-mail me the nomination form so I decided to include the narrative which can be found below.
