Harmony Hill Methodist Church (Stillwater, New Jersey)
Encyclopedia
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
and located about one mile north of the village of Stillwater in Stillwater Township
Stillwater Township, New Jersey
- History timeline :*1741, Casper Shafer built the Stillwater gristmill about half a mile from the present mill site.*1764, the Stillwater gristmill was moved to its present location and commercially operated there until 1955...
, in the County of Sussex
Sussex County, New Jersey
The County of Sussex is the northernmost county in the State of New Jersey. It is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 Federal decennial census, 149,265 persons resided in Sussex County...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
One of the earliest Methodist congregations organized in both New Jersey and the United States, Harmony Hill Methodist Church was established in 1802 along the Flanders Circuit, a large, nearly 400-mile circuit of several churches in northwestern New Jersey, Southern New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
that was served by travelling ministers. The congregation met in its early members' barn
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
s and homes until the current structure, a wood-frame building, was erected in 1832–1833. Its founders were either previously members (including original founders) of the Stillwater Presbyterian Church
Stillwater Presbyterian Church (Stillwater, New Jersey)
The Stillwater Presbyterian Church is a house of worship affiliated with the Presbyterian Church located in the village of Stillwater in Stillwater Township, in the County of Sussex, New Jersey...
when that church was affiliated as a joint Lutheran and German Reformed congregation (before 1822), or from descendants of those founders, as the population of Stillwater assimilated from its Palatine
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
roots to English-oriented American culture.
Harmony Hill Methodist Church is listed on both the New Jersey
New Jersey Register of Historic Places
The New Jersey Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic resources of local, state, and national interest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The program is administered by the Historic Preservation Office of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.The register was...
and National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Harmony Hill Methodist Cemetery
A cemetery is located adjacent to the Harmony Hill Methodist Church where most of the early parishioners of the church are interred. Several members of the Main, Savercool, Wintermute and descendants of the early families of Stillwater, New Jersey are buried within the cemetery.See also
- History of New JerseyHistory of New JerseyThe history of New Jersey began at the end of the Younger Dryas climate, about 10 millennia ago. Native Americans moved into New Jersey soon after the reversal of the Younger Dryas, which had made the area uninhabitable and, during the preceding ice age, unreachable.European contact began with the...
- Paulins KillPaulins KillThe Paulins Kill is a tributary of the Delaware River in northwestern New Jersey in the United States...
- Stillwater Cemetery (Stillwater, New Jersey)
- Stillwater Presbyterian Church (Stillwater, New Jersey)Stillwater Presbyterian Church (Stillwater, New Jersey)The Stillwater Presbyterian Church is a house of worship affiliated with the Presbyterian Church located in the village of Stillwater in Stillwater Township, in the County of Sussex, New Jersey...
- Stillwater Township, New JerseyStillwater Township, New Jersey- History timeline :*1741, Casper Shafer built the Stillwater gristmill about half a mile from the present mill site.*1764, the Stillwater gristmill was moved to its present location and commercially operated there until 1955...
- Sussex County, New JerseySussex County, New JerseyThe County of Sussex is the northernmost county in the State of New Jersey. It is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 Federal decennial census, 149,265 persons resided in Sussex County...