Presbyterian Church in Basking Ridge facts for kids
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Presbyterian Church in Basking Ridge
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The church and the famous White Oak Tree to its right, pictured in 2013
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 Location in Somerset County, New Jersey
Location in New Jersey
Location in the United States
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| Location | 1 E. Oak Street, Basking Ridge, New Jersey |
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| Area | 1.1 acres (0.45 ha) |
| Built | 1839 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 74001190 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | December 31, 1974 |
The Presbyterian Church in Basking Ridge is a historic church in Bernards Township, New Jersey. The community that attends the church started all the way back in 1717. The current church building was built in 1839. It was designed in a Greek Revival style, which was popular at the time and made buildings look like ancient Greek temples.
Because of its long history, the church is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. For many years, the church was famous for a giant, 600-year-old oak tree that stood in its churchyard.
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The Legendary Old Oak Tree
In the church's historic graveyard stood a huge white oak tree, often called the "Holy Oak." It was one of the oldest white oak trees in the world. The tree was almost 100 feet (30 m) tall, and its branches spread out over 130 feet (40 m). The trunk was so thick it measured 20 feet (6.1 m) around. Its lowest branches were so heavy they needed special supports to hold them up.
A Place for Famous Visitors
This old tree witnessed many important events in American history.
- In 1740, during a time of religious excitement called the First Great Awakening, two famous preachers, George Whitfield and James Davenport, spoke to a crowd of 3,000 people under the tree's branches.
- During the American Revolutionary War, General George Washington's soldiers practiced drills on the nearby village green. Washington himself is said to have had a picnic under the tree with the Marquis de LaFayette, a French general who helped America.
- In 1781, about 5,500 French soldiers led by Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau marched past the tree. They were on their way to the final major battle of the war in Virginia.
The End of an Era
In June 2016, people noticed the ancient tree was in trouble. The leaves on its upper branches were not growing. By September of that year, the tree had died.
Because the dead tree was a safety risk, it was carefully taken down over three days in April 2017. To honor its memory, a new white oak tree, grown from one of the old tree's acorns, was planted in the churchyard.
The Church Building
The church building itself is a large brick structure. It measures 72 feet (22 m) long by 46 feet (14 m) wide and sits on a stone foundation.
The sides of the church have five very tall windows. Each window is 14 feet (4.3 m) high and 5 feet (1.5 m) wide. They are made of many small panes of glass. When the building was studied in 1974, experts believed that much of the glass was original from when the church was built in 1839.
The church was officially documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1939. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, recognizing its importance to American history and architecture.
See also
