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Routes to Roots Heritage Trail
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Meeting House)
 
The small, concrete masonry church known as Bethel AME Church is as a rare, surviving African American institution associated with multiple participants in the Underground Railroad. Located in the heart of the black community of Springtown in Greenwich Township, the church and its congregation offered lodging to fugitive slaves travelling north after leaving Maryland's Eastern Shore and Delaware. Oral histories attest that Harriet Tubman used the Springtown/Greenwich station from 1849-1853 during her passage north through Delaware to Wilmington - one of her most famous routes. The property was conveyed by Evan Miller for $5 to the trustees of the African Methodist Episcopal church headed by Nathaniel Murray June 7th, 1838 calling for 62 perches of land "on the Sheppard Mill Road to be used as a place of worship for members under the care of the African Methodist Episcopal Church at their general conference in the U.S.A. It is believed to be the oldest house of worship of the African American community in Cumberland County. The church is also the land owners of burial grounds which contain the remains of its earliest members of the congregation, in addition to veterans of the Civil War. This stone structure of the congregation was built in 1841.
(Private property: Exterior viewing only, no interior tour)
The Bethel AME Church
Sheppards Mill Road
Greenwich Township, New Jersey
For additional information regarding this historic site please contact:
Cumberland County Historical Society
PO Box 16
Greenwich, NJ 08323
(856) 455-4055
http://www.historicalsociety.com
______________________________________________________________________________
Mt. Zion African A.M.E. Cemetery
 The Mt. Zion A.M.E. Society dates back to 1836. Although, the church structure of the society is now gone the property contains a cemetery that is the burial place of black Civil War veterans. Currently, in disrepair and unavailable for visitation, the property is completely wooded with roads blocked by private property owners. (Accessible only on foot.) -- For information on assisting in the restoration of this historic site, please contact:
Cumberland County Historical Society
PO Box 16
Greenwich, NJ 08323
(856) 455-4055
http://www.historicalsociety.com
_____________________________________________________________________________
Old Broad Street Presbyterian Church & Cemetery
 The foundation stone was laid for this historic site on July 26, 1792. Dedicated in 1795, plans were made for building the church in the 1770's, but the outbreak of the Revolution delayed the project. The Presbyterian meeting house is one of the best preserved 18th century buildings in New Jersey. Its near perfect condition has made it nationally famous. The church's graveyard is the final resting place of many veterans of the Revolution as well as slaves of the era. The historic building features a massive Palladian window as well as other architectural refinement, in addition to rear gallery boxes that were used by slave families.
Old Broad Street Presbyterian Church & Cemetery
Broad and Lawrence Streets
Bridgeton, NJ 08302
For additional information regarding this historic site please contact:
Cumberland County Historical Society
PO Box 16
Greenwich, NJ 08323
(856) 455-4055
http://www.historicalsociety.com
_____________________________________________________________________________
COUNTENANCE: Notable County Facts & Faces
Gouldtown Digital Collection:
A collection of pictures depicting the residents of this remarkable early African American settlement together with sketches of early colonial history of Cumberland County in southern New Jersey.
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County History and Resource Organizations
Cumberland County Cultural & Heritage Commission
800 East Commerce Street
Bridgeton, NJ 08302
(856) 453-2175
(856) 453-9138 FAX
mattpi@co.cumberland.nj.us
Cumberland County Historical Society
PO Box 16
Greenwich, NJ 08323
(856) 455-4055
http://www.historicalsociety.com
_______________________________________________________________________________
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