The Church of Saint James, Basking Ridge NJ
Posted by: 
briansnat
N 40° 42.006 W 074° 32.858
18T E 538216 N 4505564
Saint James RC church in Basking Ridge NJ
Waymark Code: WM30DY
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 01/20/2008
Views: 199
St. James' history has developed from Mass in private homes in pre-Revolutionary war times to a striking complex of church, rectory, school and convent; from a few families to over 3400; from 85 seats in the first church to space for 450 people in the second church (now chapel) to the new combined church-chapel with seating in the main church for 1000 and from occasional weekly Mass to one on Saturday and four on Sunday. The parish of St. James presently draws from all of Bernards Township.
As early as 1758, a Jesuit priest traveled on horseback into Basking Ridge on his way to or from Philadelphia. He would hear confessions, baptize, celebrate Mass, preach a sermon, give communion, perform marriages, and then travel continue on to another place. Baptismal records refer to the area as "Bascon Ridge".
In 1853, Basking Ridge Catholics were placed under care of St. Vincent's in Madison. Church property was purchased in 1859 on the lower end of South Maple Avenue and Henry Street. It contained almost a third of an acre and a 125-year old carpenter shop, which was renovated into a church to seat 85 people.
St. James was incorporated October 20, 1864 by the Most Rev. James Roosevelt Bayley, DD., a second cousin of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and also a cousin of the 20th century Saint Mother Elizabeth Bayley Seton. Incorporation papers read "baskinridge."