Cape May Landmarks:
Cold Spring Church

Just outside of Cape May, in Lower Township, you'll find one of the most historic churches in the United States.

For history lovers, headstones in the cemetery of Cold Spring Presbyterian Church, affectionately referred to as "Old Brick, " provide an accurate and intriguing glimpse of nearly 300 years of Cape May County history. The oldest marked grave is that of Sarah Eldridge Spicer who died in 1742. 

More Mayflower descendants are buried in the cemetery, including hundreds of descendants from John Howland, than anywhere outside of Massachusetts. 

A marker in the church cemetery commemorates the final resting place of many local residents who died during the worldwide cholera epidemic in 1832 and were buried secretly at night in unmarked graves.

The church traces its origins to 1718 when a log meeting house was erected. In  1762 a larger frame meeting house was constructed and included slave stalls, although they were seldom used since most Cape May County residents
had freed their slaves long before New Jersey passed its own emancipation act in 1846.

Finally, a brick church was built in 1823 and remains today much as it was nearly two centuries ago. It was planned by Thomas Hughes who owned the first Congress Hall in Cape May and served in Congress with Daniel Webster and Henry Clay who later visited the church for Sunday worship.

Guided tours of the church and cemetery are conducted throughout the summer. The church is a National Historic Landmark Site and is listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places.

WHERE: Route 9, north of Townbank Road, in Cold Spring
CONTACT NUMBER: (609) 884-4065