Cohansey Baptist Church - Roadstown, NJ
Posted by: 
NJBiblio
N 39° 26.360 W 075° 18.812
18S E 473019 N 4365578
Historic Cohansey Baptist Church in Roadstown, NJ. This is the fourth church building and both the building and graveyard date to 1801. Contains the graves of several war veterans and a former Major League Baseball player.
Waymark Code: WM98KD
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 07/14/2010
Views: 6
This is a beautiful old church.
Very simply build and exquisitely maintained. This current church
building, according to the histories I have read was build in 1801. It is
the fourth church building near the site, the first being a log church build in
the 1690s. This gives the church the distinction of being the oldest
continually operational church with the exception of the Quakers, in South
Jersey.
The main building was
constructed in 1801. A parsonage was completed in 1862 and a small chapel
added in 1876. It was remodeled twice, once in 1851 and again almost 100
years later in 1949. The final additions were in 1964 when an education
building was added and again in 1968 when the heating and electrical systems
were fully modernized.
This is especially revered by
Baptists because it is considered the "mother church" for South Jersey, being
constituted in 1683 and operating continually since that time.
The inscription in marble above
the door reads: "This building erected MDCCCI [1801]. For the BAPTIST SOCIETY
constituted MDCXCI [1691]."
The churchyard extends behind
the church for approximately an acre to an acre and a half. The oldest
graves are those closest to the church. This is still an active cemetery,
the newest grave dating to early this year (2010). Room remains to the
south and east for many more graves in the future. Stone reflect the time
periods and culture of South Jersey with granite and marble headstones, the
older graves having detailed epitaphs, and the newer graves being much simpler.