Old Stone Church -- Fairfield Twp., NJ - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

The sign text reads:

"Fairfield "Old Stone" Church New Jersey Register of Historic Places: May 8, 1973 National Register of Historic Places: May 12, 1977 This historic building, Fairfield "Old Stone" Church, was the third church built in this area by a group of Presbyterian settlers from Fairfield Connecticut. Their first building was a log structure built along the banks of the Cohansey Creek during the late seventeenth century. A frame church was erected between 1713 and 1715 at this site, a mile east of the original church. This church served the congregation until 1775, when it was deemed unsafe and dismantled. Construction of the third church was planned in 1775, but was interrupted by the Revolutionary war. The present church was finally constructed in 1780, after fighting moved out of the area. the building is architecturally significant as an adaptation of the Quaker meeting house form. During the eighteenth century, this form was an alternative to the longer church form loosely based on Gothic churches and cathedrals. Although the plan of the church interior follows the meeting house configuration and includes a large second floor balcony, an elaborate raised pulpit defines the Presbyterian congregation;s style of worship. Both the interior and exterior of the church are largely unchanged since 1850, when the congregation moved to a new building at the center of Fairfield. ever modernized, the building provides unique insight into early church architecture in New Jersey. Funding has been made possible in part by the Garden State Historic Preservation Trust administered by the New Jersey Trust / state of New Jersey."