This picturesque Gothic Revival style building executed in wood is St. Peter's second church. Built in 1849-51, the current structure replaced a smaller church built on this site in 1756-1759. The design of the new church departed from traditional church architecture in America, influenced instead by the form of medieval English churches and the Gothic Revival style. Although usually executed in stone or brick, some church construction took advantage of the availability of lumber in this country to create a less expensive adaptation of the Gothic Revival style in wood, called "Carpenter" Gothic.
St. Peter's second and current church was designed by English-born architect Frank Wills (1822-1857).
After establishing his practice in America, Wills helped found the New York Ecclesiological Society that promoted ancient Gothic English churches as prototypes for American parish churches of the day. Constructed as a frame, board-and-batten-clad building of the Carpenter Gothic style, St Peter's was one of twenty-four churches Wills designed. The cornerstone was laid in September 1849, but limited funding delayed the building's use until November 1851.
The church was enlarged in 1896 with the addition of the organ chamber and baptistery as two wings forming east and west transepts, ad then again in 1908 with the sacristy in the
southeast corner and an organ loft against the north wall. In 1928, the church suffered a serious fire that destroyed much of the organ chamber and chancel area. St. Peter's was subsequently restored, and survives as one of the earliest examples of the Carpenter Gothic style in New Jersey.
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