Pinelands United Methodist Church - Pleasant Mills (Hammonton), NJ
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Math Teacher
N 39° 38.454 W 074° 39.674
18S E 529067 N 4387956
Beautiful church in Batsto. There are four of these Methodist churches in the Pinelands, all under the same umbrella. This one is known as the Batsto Church Building The church was built in 1808 and has been in continuous use since then.
Waymark Code: WMA4CC
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 11/14/2010
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Bear and Ragged
Views: 3

Beautiful country church kind of in the middle of nowhere. There is a large cemetery with 572 interments located here as well including a veterans memorial. The cemetery is reputed to be haunted and the South Jersey Ghost Research actually did a case study here and came away with interesting and spooky data. The building is a single story, no nonsense structure lacking a church bell, steeple, stained glass and the other usual amenities one would see at a church. I suppose this can be attributed to a lack of money during the beginning of the 19th century. Interestingly enough, there are two entrances which were probably gender separated at one time.

The original church on this site was built in 1776-77 by Scottish Covenaters (Presbyterians) who had settled at Pleasant Mills. According to the tradition of that time, the church was the first building to be constructed and was built between sunrise and sundown. The original church had log walls, a thatched roof and a packed earthen floor. In 1760 Captain Elijah Clark replaced the first log church with a new one made of squared logs, a shingled roof and a board floor.

By 1808 the increased activity at Batsto Furnace made the old Meeting House too small for the growing village. When Francis Asbury, the first Methodist Bishop in the U.S., preached at the Meeting House in 1808, he advised that the building should be rebuilt and enlarged. The construction was completed in December 1808. Bishop Asbury returned the next Spring to dedicate the Church building on April 21, 1809. The church has been in continuous service since the day of its dedication. The church recently celebrated its 200 year anniversary.

Address
4200 Nesco Road at Pleasant Mills Road
Pleasant Mills (Hammonton), NJ 08037

Active church?: Yes

Year Built: 1808

Service times:
Morning Worship 9:00 AM Church School 10:15 AM


Website: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:

At least one photo. You're welcome to be in the picture, but please, No GPSr.

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