National Register of Historic Places

Penns Neck Baptist Church

Penns Neck, Mercer County, New Jersey
Listed
December 28, 1989
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
89002160

About this property

Penns Neck Baptist Church (also known as Red Lion Tavern and Princeton Baptist Church at Penns Neck) is a historic church located on US 1 at Washington Road in the Penns Neck section of West Windsor Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Built in 1812, the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 28, 1989, for its significance in architecture, exploration/settlement, and religion. The church was built alongside the then new Trenton and New Brunswick Turnpike, now Route One. The turnpike, which had opened in 1807, was designed to help provide a proper road connection between Philadelphia and New York City. The parsonage pre-dated the church and had been a public house in which, it is thought, George Washington and William Penn had stayed. At the time the area was also called Williamsburg and the church was first referred to as Williamsborough Baptist. The Rev. Peter Wilson started in ministry in central Jersey preaching in private homes, starting at that of John Flock in Pennington in 1790, and also at John Campbell's house in Princeton. In 1791 John Hight and his wife of Penn's Neck were baptized and preaching continued in their home as well as others in Princeton. By the time the church was built, twenty-nine residents of the Penn's Neck area had been baptized including Richard Thomas, who would later serve as a delegate to the New Jersey Association (formed 1811), and New Jersey Baptist State Convention (formed 1830). Funds for the church building were raised from the congregation in Hightstown as well as residents of Princeton. At its dedication the church had thirty-seven members. National Register of Historic Places listings in Mercer County, New Jersey Media related to Penns Neck Baptist Church at Wikimedia Commons

Location

Penns Neck, Mercer County, New Jersey
40.33193, -74.63702

Categories

EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENTARCHITECTURERELIGION
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Washington Road Elm Allee
Listed
0.5 mi
Lake Carnegie Historic District
Listed
1.2 mi
University Cottage Club
Industrial
1.4 mi
Prospect
Industrial
1.5 mi
Jugtown Historic District
Listed
1.6 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Princeton Jan 3 1777
1777Revolutionary War
2.3 mi
Battle of Princeton
1777Revolutionary War
2.4 mi
Battle of Trenton (First)
1776Revolutionary War
9.7 mi

Questions about this property

When was Penns Neck Baptist Church listed on the National Register?

Penns Neck Baptist Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 28, 1989.

What type of historic resource is Penns Neck Baptist Church?

Penns Neck Baptist Church is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Penns Neck Baptist Church?

The period of significance for Penns Neck Baptist Church is recorded as the industrial era.

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