Courtesy, Jersey City Free Public Library
The large ecclesiastical structure, on the southeast corner of Linden Avenue and Ocean Avenue in Greenville, has been the spiritual home of the Mount Calvary Baptist Church of Jersey City since 1969. The building was constructed in the late 1880s by the Linden Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church after that congregation had outgrown the first church, located further west on Linden Avenue. The earlier church, called the Greenville M.E. Church, is held to be the first Christian denomination to organize and erect a church in the Greenville area.
The Linden Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church dates back to the expansion of Methodist Episcopal congregations in the US in the 1820s, the largest American Protestant denomination begun by Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke in 1784. Traveling ministers on the circuit met followers in their homes to gain momentum and establish permanent churches. Out of this effort, the Greenville Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1844 (the same year it split with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South) by the Rev. George Thomas, a prominent preacher.
According to the local historian Alexander McLean, meetings were held in the schoolhouse on Old Bergen Road, and "the infant church grew so rapidly that in the following year, 1845, the Rev. David Graves was assigned as pastor. It then formed part of the Hudson City circuit, which included Communipaw and Centreville [later part of Bayonne]" (295).
McLean continues: "The first church was built on what was then known as Georges Lane, now Linden Avenue, with an entrance from Bergen Road, and with no houses near it. Although difficult to access, its services were well attended. It was a commodious brick structure and cost about $3,000" (295). In the 1860s, a parsonage was built by the Rev. A. E. Compton for approximately $1,500. (Also see Jersey Journal article, November 6, 1909).
In 1887, the Rev. W. E. Blakeslee called for a new church to accommodate the congregation's growth and crowded conditions. The population of Jersey City had almost doubled from 82,546 in 1870 to 163,003 by 1890. The New York Times (March 29, 1888) referred to the original church on Linden Avenue as "an old fashioned stone building." After obtaining a pledge of over $11,000, a debate ensued on whether to move to a new location and delayed construction.
A decision was eventually made for a new location large enough to accommodate a new church and a parsonage. Six lots were purchased on the corner of Linden and Ocean avenues. Jersey City architect George Watson Labaw drew up the plans for the new Gothic Revival brick church. The design featured polychromatic arches over the entrances and windows and a square bell tower with a tapered steeple and decorative pinnacles. The cornerstone for the new church was laid on September 20, 1888, and Bishop E. G. Andrews dedicated the church on Sunday, May 5, 1889.
A Jersey Journal article (May 14, 1904) reports that the church building was sold in the 1890s to Mr. Bamber of Brooklyn, NY. He “enlarged it to three stories and extended it so that the front wall was brought out to the building line." The church property was sold to pay down the debt for the new construction. The congregation held on to the title for the rear cemetery grounds where many of Greenville’s early families are buried.
After attempts to establish a theater, Bamber Hall, in the church building failed, it was leased for a ground-floor saloon. Objections regarding the "beer emporium" emerged, not over repurposing of the church, but the use of the cemetery grounds. Neighborhood residents and church members looked for the liquor license to be denied based on the desecration of the property ("This Goes too Far." Jersey Journal 30 April 1895; "It Is a Curiosity; The Little Greenville Burying Ground." Jersey Journal 30 August 1895).
Over the years, numerous social, religious, and political organizations, including the local Y.M.C.A. and the St. Paul’s Catholic Club, rented space in the building. The 1928 Hopkins Atlas of Jersey City indicates that the structure was later converted into a ladies' garment factory. It is uncertain when the building was taken down, but the cemetery’s gravestones were visible into the early 1950s.
The Linden Avenue United Methodist Church joined the Salem Evangelical United Brethren Church in the late 1960s to form the Church of the Covenant United Methodist congregation. In June 1968, the Linden Avenue church building closed. It planned to use the Salem Church building on Kennedy Boulevard near Pearsall Avenue (January 25, 1969).
The fast-growing Mount Calvary Baptist Church, organized by the Rev. Charles F. Etheridge in 1952 at 31 Ege Avenue, needed a larger space. It was acquired and moved into the vacant Linden Avenue building in June 1969. The Rev. Willie W. Wilson assumed the pastorate in 1979 and led the congregation for twenty years until his retirement in 2000. Originally constructed of red brick with bluestone trim, exterior renovations show a light-colored stucco finish with architectural details highlighted to accent the original Gothic arches and other decorative elements.
"A Church Dedicated." New York Times 6 May 1889.
“Baptists to Move.” Jersey Journal 5 July 1969.
"Greenville Methodists." New York Times 29 March 1888.
"It Is a Curiosity; The Little Greenville Burying Ground." Jersey Journal 30 August 1895.
"Linden Ave. M.E. Churches Anniversary." Jersey Journal 6 November 1909.
McLean, Alexander. The History of Jersey City, N.J. Jersey City, NJ: F.T. Smiley and Co., 1895.
"Old Cemetery is Much Neglected." Jersey Journal 19 November 1903.
“Service of Union to Mark Church Merger Tomorrow.” Jersey Journal 25 January 1969.
Shalhoub, Patrick B. Images of America: Jersey City. Dover, NH: Arcadia Publishing, 1995.
"Shall the Church Become a Saloon?" New York Times 26 June 1895.
“The Strange History of an Old Greenville Church Building.” Jersey Journal 14 May 1904.
"This Goes too Far." Jersey Journal 30 April 1895.
