south park presbyterian church

The South Park Presbyterian Church cornerstone was laid October 29, 1853 and the building was officially dedicated in 1855. The church is most noted for Abraham Lincoln speaking on its steps in 1861. Originally the church was a place of worship for affluent descendents of Pilgrims, but as the neighborhood slowly changed over the years the population decreased. After the riots, in 1974 the building was leased to an organization which turned it into a homeless shelter.

In 1989 the Presbyterian Church of New Jersey deemed the structure of the church unsound and had to ask the homeless shelter to leave and move to another site. Unfortunately most of the church was destroyed in 1992 as a result of a horrible fire, and now only the front stone façade and the towers remain. Newark is unsure of what to do with the grounds, but there has been talk of using the remaining front as a gateway to a cultural district. The two towers at the top of each side of the church once had ornamental structures copied from a Greek church in Athens, but they have since been removed and now trees grow in their place.