To spot the First Reformed Church, look for a stately stone building with tall arched windows and a dramatic white multi-tiered clock tower that rises above the neighboring roofs, right at the edge of the street.
So here you are, standing before the First Reformed Church-though if you’d wandered by in 1812, you might’ve called it the Dutch Reformed Church. Dutch names were all the rage back then, and this spot on Neilson Street has been at the city’s heart for over 200 years. Imagine the early 1700s: a handful of settlers building a faith community, dodging British redcoats and... probably bickering over who brought the best pie to church socials. The current sanctuary was built in 1812 with that poised Georgian and Federal look-classic columns, stately symmetry. The steeple, reaching for the sky, arrived in 1835, giving New Brunswick its own piece of drama every time a thunderstorm rolled through. It’s also where a rather stubborn fire broke out in 1971, though thankfully the church survived-charred, but not defeated. And underfoot, among mossy stones, you’ll find some big names in New Jersey’s history: three past presidents of Queen’s College (that’s Rutgers to you), and even a U.S. senator. Stand here and you can almost feel the stories layered deep in the bricks... just mind the lingering scent of old books and maybe, a faint whiff of church potluck dinners past.
