Saint Peters Church, Snow Covered

The History:

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Spotswood was established before the United States of America when King George II granted a charter to establish the church in 1756.  Since then, for more than 260 years, St. Peter’s has continuously served the people of central Middlesex County and is proud to be one of the oldest parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey.  

The church at the corner of Main Street and DeVoe Avenue in the heart of town, is actually the second church to stand on the site.  The first church, after serving the community for over 50 years had to be condemned, forcing the parish to worship in its parish hall in 1838. The parish went through hard times during that period, suffering from outbreaks of Yellow Fever in the community. Eventually, work began on a new church.

The current building was completed in 1854 and is an early example of Carpenter Gothic style, one of the largest in the country, and was patterned after the stone Gothic Revival Churches in Europe. It features a board and batten exterior, Gothic arched openings and lancet windows, stepped buttresses and decorative moldings.  It was consecrated in the early 1860s and has been in regular use ever since. The original Parish Hall was expanded in the 1870s, and then again in the 1950s. A rectory was built in 1888 and serves as the offices for the Parish and for the not-for-profit service organization Community of Hope Ministries (COHM).

The graveyard that surrounds the buildings is a veritable monument to the history of America with veterans of every conflict and war and dates that carry us through our independence to this day; and celebrates the families – DeVoe, Helm, Appleby and Perrine, that are so deeply rooted in the history and success of central Middlesex County.  St. Peter’s was named to the National Register of Historic Places and the New Jersey Register of Historic Places in 1979.