SOUTH TRENTON'S FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 1866 TO 1908

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The First Baptist Church on Centre Street in South Trenton has a splendid historical heritage. The article above, gleaned from my collection gives a very interesting look at what was originally known as the Trenton and Lamberton Baptist Church. It took a fair amount of cutting, copying and pasting to bring this history into a single readable page. The original full page of this article has been permanently encapsulated in laminate and preserved in pristine condition.

This is only about 1/3 of the full page feature article relating the heritage of this magnificent church. Each Sunday morning as I journey down Centre Street to bring Communion to the folks at South Village, I am stopped at the traffic light at the intersection of Centre and Bridge Street and try to envision that edifice with the beautiful steeple as it appears in the photo. Over the years, a severe storm destroyed it. The bell still rests on the lawn on the Bridge Street side of the church.

1909: "JOLLY FARMERS" TO BE PRESENTED BY TRENTON'S FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

The Mill Hill section of Trenton holds a special interest in my history project. Every Sunday morning I travel down Centre Street to the South Village apartments as a Eucharistic Minister. Passing by that legendary Baptist Church, the Exton Cracker factory historic Ferry Street always sets my imagination in an historic journey to the past. The above graphic is from a very very faded and detached page in my collection. With a bit of cutting, copying, and pasting, I have managed to restore the "BAPTISTS TO GIVE "JOLLY FARMERS" headline to its original pristine condition. Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended is an archivist's dream!

1910: CANTATA AT TRENTON'S FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

Thanks to Alan Wildblood for correcting the original post which was posted in error. Above is the correct January 3, 1910 First Baptist Church post.  

The graphic above contains an article outlining the services held at the First Baptist on "The Shepherd King" at the First Baptist Church on Centre Street in Trenton.  The photo is from the "FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH-TRENTON" folder in the Library's Local History Collection.

CIRCA 1901: FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH - CENTRE STREET

This interesting mini history of the legendary First Baptist Church in the Mill Hill section of South Trenton is from an un-dated page from an old scrapbook in my collection. based upon the condition of the original, I presume it was from around the very early part of the 20th century.,

1930: HOLIDAY EVENTS AT TRENTON'S FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

That lovely old church on Centre Street in Trenton was very active during the 20th century. Here's a photo of some of the members of the Ladies' Aid Society.

1933: FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH TRENTON SUMMER SCHOOL

Here's a somewhat difficult graphic of the class of 1933 at the Summer School at Trenton's First Baptist Church on Centre Street in South Trenton. There are many familiar names in the class, but unfortunately, the photo was reproduced in size to the extent that the childrens' faces are difficult to see.

2009: GOODBYE TO A TRUE ASSET TO THE CITY OF TRENTON

The Trenton area lost a very vibrant and active community member with the transfer of Pastor Jim Coston to Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. Herewith a cut and paste on Jim's transfer. Godspeed as you continue to labor in the Vineyards of the Lord, Jim, and thanks for including my blog as a link on your website.

Meet Jim Coston-Calvary's New Pastor, beginning in August

(This post was taken from Jim's website from Trenton, NJ--southtrenton.com)

James (Jim) Holmes Coston was born in Atlanta, GA, on Aug 30, 1970, to James Robert and Carol Holmes Coston. He lived most of his life in Columbia, TN, with parents and a younger sister, Kathy Coston. Jim graduated from Columbia Central High School in 1988 and enrolled in Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, that Fall.

In 1992, he graduated from Wake Forest University with a Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy and Greek. He graduated with a Masters of Arts from Wake Forest University in 1995 having written a thesis on the hermeneutics of Rudolf Bultmann and Paul Ricoeur (which is collecting dust on a shelf somewhere in his house at this moment).

On May 27, 1995, he married Julie Diane Davis in Wilmington, NC. A summer later they both enrolled in Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ.

During the 1996-1998 academic years, both served as interns at the First Baptist Church of the City of Trenton. They both graduated with Masters of Divinity from PTS in May of 1998 and became Co-Pastors of the First Baptist Church of the City of Trenton in June of 1998. Jim was ordained by the West End Baptist Church, Columbia, TN, in May of 1998.

In December of 2002, an infant, Justin Wells, was placed with Jim and Julie. He was formally adopted in November of 2003. Julie resigned from First Baptist effective January 1, 2003. Jim assumed the full-time, solo pastor position.

Reverend Coston founded the South Trenton Habitat Project in 1999, a satellite of Habitat for Humanity˜Trenton Area. During the next three years, STHP built two Habitat houses in the Goat Hill section of South Trenton, raising $120,000.00 in capital. In 2001, the Jersey Street Community Association honored the Reverends Coston with its community award.

Reverend James Coston founded the Lamberton Historic District Committee [LHDC], a civic association covering the riverside of the South Ward of Trenton, in December of 2003. LHDC formed to lobby against the Trenton Housing Authority's application for a Hope VI grant in 2004 and 2005. Both applications were rejected by the Housing and Urban Development Department. LHDC also spearheaded the community fight against the Leewood Village Centre project which would have demolished six blocks of housing in the Lamberton neighborhood and displaced upwards of 500 families. After intense pressure, the City of Trenton administration scrapped the LVC plan.

In November of 2005, Reverend Coston was honored by the Trentonian as one of the top 20 community leaders under 40 years of age. In January of 2006, Reverend Coston announced his candidacy for the South Ward Council seat to be decided in May of that year. In the May 2006 municipal election, Jim was the top vote getter though did not reach the 50% plus 1 threshold to avoid a runoff. However, in June 2006, Jim Coston defeated the 3-term incumbent by better than a 2-1 margin to win election to the South Ward City Council seat. He was sworn into office on July 1, 2006.

On March 21, Chloe Sonia & Samantha Oksana, fraternal twins, were born and subsequently placed with Jim, Julie & Justin. The family happily expanded to five!

There is much to come!

Read this blog post about Coston, posted by a Trenton resident in 2007. We have found such a jewel.

Thanks be to God.

The Costons plan to move to Waco in August.

1909: FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH TRENTON PRESENTS "JOLLY FARMER"

How I wish we had the technology 100 years ago to record some of these really talented Trentonians who performed for the public 100 years ago!

In order to maintain clarity, the gray tone on this early offset photo has been preserved.

1897: THE BAPTIST BOYS' BRIGADE, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

Even as the Catholic boys of the city had Camp Columbus, so too did the boys from First Baptist have their camping grounds down along the Delaware in Florence.

1898: REVIVAL AT TRENTON'S FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

Logistically, my friend Alan Wildblood is not in the local area, and I have promised to post any and all historically interesting items relating to Pastor Jim Coston's First Baptist Church on Centre Street in South Trenton. This is an easy chore for me, due to the fact that South Trenton-Lamberton-Bloomsbury, the Ferry-the Delaware, my Sacred Heart Parish, and many other fascinating historic sites are located in a very special area of Trenton which is steeped in historic tradition.

1869: FIRST BAPTIST SUNDAY SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS

According to the engraving which I imported from my "FIRST BAPTIST" folder, the Sunday School exhibition referred to in the above articles took place a scant nine years after the construction of that magnificent edifice which still stands on the corner of Centre and Bridge Streets in South Trenton. (Minus the stately spire with was lost in a storm). The two articles were located apart from each other in the "City Items" column.

1918: FIRST BAPTISTS PICNIC AT CADWALADER PARK

Cadwalader park was teeming with picnics from all over the area back in the early part of the 20th century. A sunday concert at the park was a regular feature, and world renowned artists performed concerts there.

1908: TRENTON'S FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 100 DECEMBERS AGO

Christmas seasons of the past were full of articles on the activities of many of the churches in the Trenton area. Here's an article on the Christmas Cantata presented by the Church Sunday School.

1908: 100 YEARS AGO AT TRENTON'S FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

Pastor Hoag' wedding to a socialite made the news 100 years ago for the parishioners at Trenton's First Baptist Church on Centre Street in downtown Trenton. One wonders if the parsonage illustated above is still at the West State Street location.

MANY THANKS TO ALAN WILDBLOOD, GENEALOGIST AND HISTORIAN FOR THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION RELATING TO THE ABOVE GRAPHIC:

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The parsonage of the First Baptist Church of Trenton was at 1204 Riverside Avenue from 1946 to 1959. The church sold that home and purchased one at 3 Heights Terrace, Yardville, in 1959 or 1960 for Rev. Richard Mercer, who had three small children. In the 1970's Rev. Larry Dobson was accommodated at 125 Centre Street, across from the church. This building had also been the parsonage or Rev. John Wicker in 1900. in between, the site was the home of a physician, Dr. Carroll. In recent decades First Baptist pastors have received a housing allowance and hang their cloths where they choose. Rev. Roberson in the 1990s resided in Lawrence. The incumbent, Rev. Jim Coston, calls Centre Street home and can walk to church and serve his milieu on the Trenton City Council. My own parents married at the home of First Baptist's Rev. Milton Perry on Christmas Day 1937. Further research is required to pinpoint that location. A marriage certificate might help. I have always taken their word for it.

1935: FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH PRESENTS "COMFORTLESS MEMORIES"

From the "SOUTH TRENTON" and "FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH" folders, this article on Gertrude Saxtons "Comfortless Memories" program.

2008: Re: Alan Wildblood, Mike Kuzma, Bill Barber

Thanks to Bill Barber for this email relating to the First Baptist Church, also referring to Alan Wildblood's First Baptist Church (Centre Street, Trenton) posts. Mike Kuzma, Bill sends his regards to you. Unfortunately, most of the guest book comments come in without the sender including his or her email address in the text of his/her message, so I resort to posting as below:

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Bill Wrote:

The new post of the First Baptist Church from Alan Wildblood is great. The great steeple was torn from the church by hurricane Diane (I think) in 1951. It crashed through the roof of the main sanctuary causing total demolition of the interior. A Rebuilding committee was named and Col. Herman L Mack was chairman. Two years later we had a grand re-dedication service.
Uncle Mack (as we called him) was married to Anna, sister of my Mother Mildred Hartman, Harry, Norman, Edgar and Marion. The Hartmans ran the produce store on No. Broad St. near the battle moment. Love your site hi to Mike Kuzama

Bill

1905: First Baptist Church Centennial Souvinir Booklet

This beautiful graphic illustrating the front cover and frontis page photo of the First Baptist Church on Centre Street in Trenton was forwarded to me by Alan Wildblood, who is an historian specializing in the history and genealogy of the church and the Wildblood family tree. Note the beautiful "steeple" which was on the original church; undoubtedly the victim of the weather sometime during the church's magnificent past. Thanks, Alan.

1905: First Baptist Church: 1805-1905 Centennial

These 3 columns were gleaned from 3 seperate editions of the Daily State Gazette. I looked for a comprehensive 100 year history, but so far there is nothing uncovered.