History

The High Bridge Dutch Reformed Church was built in 1869 in Gothic Revival Style. It was designed by noted New York architect George B. Post, who was inspired by a catholic church he saw in France. The parsonage was built in April 1873 in Victorian Gothic Revival style.

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Barbara Repka and Joseph E Hoffman (a life-long resident of High Bridge and member of the High Bridge Reformed Church for many years), both members of the High Bridge Historical Committee, were responsible for having the High Bridge Reformed Church included in the National and New Jersey State Register of Historical Places. 

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In October 1980, the church was approved for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places by the Heritage, Conservation, and Recreation Service of the Department of Interior. 

 

Helen Voorhees of New Brunswick, daughter of the former Dutch Reformed Minister, Reverend Oscar Voorhees, according to Joseph Hoffman, Historian of the High Bridge Historical Committee, was of great assistance in researching the history of the church. 

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Mr. Lewis H. Taylor was on the building committee of the church and he also initiated the fund drive in 1904 for erecting the Chapel.

 

"The church has not been changed, except that the steeple which was shortened in 1930 after a tornado twisted the original steeple ten degrees on its mounting, according to Barbara Repka of the borough's Historical Committee", (The Hunterdon Review, February 18, 1981). 

 

The shortened steeple does not have the markings that were on the taller part of the original steeple. It is thought that the original steeple design showed allegiance to Holland. With the shorter steeple, this design was not included. (This can be seen in the older pictures of the church steeple). 

 

The architect, Mr. Post, after serving in the Civil War, opened an Architecture Office in New York City and went on to design the New York Stock Exchange (1903), the Harlem campus of City College (1907), the Brooklyn Historical Society (1881), the Manufacturers and Arts Building at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and Wisconsin's Capitol in 1906. Mr. Post then received the highest distinction conferred on an architect in this country on December 14, 1911, when a gold medal for distinguished services in architecture was awarded to him by the American Institute of Architects. 

 

Come and visit us and see if you can find the hook in the ceiling of the sanctuary that was used to raise the two sides of the sanctuary roof with mules and ropes!