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News Saturday December 5th is the Holiday House Tour featuring 6 decorated homes, the Red Dragon Canoe Club, St. Stephen's Chapel and Coopertown Meeting House Tour hours 3 - 7PM reserve your tickets at $8, call 609-387-4975 leave name & # of tickets $15 day of tour THE COOPERTOWN MEETING HOUSE IS OPEN BY APPOINTMENT TO INTERESTED GROUPS. CALL THERESA TO SET UP A DAY & TIME------------------------- MARK YOUR CALENDERS FOR THE FREE OPEN HOUSE ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 5TH 1 TO 7 PM FREE SEE THE BEVERLY BEE FOR MORE INFORMATION OR CALL THERESA 609-387-1079 |
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Members List:
Links Section
President:
Dennis Rogers
Vice President:
Karl Burrows
Secretary/Treasurer:
Theresa Lowden
ST. STEPHEN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH BURLINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY NJ CIVIL WAR-23 RD REGIMENT/YAHOOS WEBSITE
Coopertown Meeting House
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The Cooper Town Meeting House has the typical appearance of small houses of worship built in rural Burlington Township in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Built between 1802 and 1806, it is a 1-story structure containing a single room. It is constructed of brick laid in Flemish bond over a low fieldstone foundation. Each of the long facades features a central doorway with original double-leafed doors, each leaf having three raised panels. The doorways are flanked by windows with 12 panes in both upper and lower sash, hung with three-paneled shutters. The single room on the interior has a raised platform at one end and late 19th century vertical board wainscoting. Although the appearance of the Coopertown Meeting House is typical, its origin is not. Most religious buildings were erected to serve a particular denomination. The subscribers who raised the money for the Coopertown Meeting House placed it in trust with the Baptist Church, but decreed that it was to "be open and free to be used by all persons professing and believing in the Divinity of Jesus Christ". From its completion in 1806 until the 1830s, the Coopertown Meeting House flourished. At various times Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, and the Society of Friends worshipped there. Conflicts arose, however, over attempts to gain exclusive use, and the Methodist and Episcopalian congregations eventually withdrew and built their own churches. From 1880 to the 1930s it was the home of the Coopertown Union Sunday School. The Society of Friends also used it from 1901 until the 1930s. With the advent of the automobile, however, local residents were able to attend churches of their own denomination. __________________________________________________________________ Although the Cooper Town Meeting House Board of Trustees continues to maintain the building, the Riverfront Historical Society raised funds in the late 1970's and early 1980's to repair many damages to the building. The restoration was complete in 1983-84. The meeting house is now open for Riverfront Historical Society FREE open houses held in May, September and the first Saturday of December and by appointment. Groups may call Theresa at 609-387-1079 to arrange a visit during the warm months of the year. There is no heat in the building except for the coal stove we use once a year.
