Press Release
Date: January 17, 2009
Subject: The Church of the Ponds Prepares to Celebrate Its 300th Anniversary
Contact: Phil Marchbank
201-405-0352
File Photos Included
Before there was the United States, almost 75 years before the American Revolution and even before George Washington was born, there was The Church of the Ponds in now what is Oakland, NJ. This sacred church and storied history is now planning the celebration of its 300th Anniversary in 2010. For three centuries it has been pivotal to the growth and character of this community and indeed the surrounding area.
The Church of the Ponds was the nexus of life in this valley. It was THE church, the community center, an informal court, the source of the first school and the moral and spiritual leader of the entire valley. Washington prayed there, the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation proclamation were read from its pulpit.
The call to arms for the citizens of Oakland for WW I and WW II were announced through its voice. In this regard the Church of the Ponds was more than a church and spiritual leader: It virtually defined this community. And for three centuries it not only defined Oakland, it was and is the best of Oakland.
The magnificent Ponds Church building now seen on Ramapo Valley Road in Oakland is the fourth generation edifice ultimately rising from the humble roots of a log structure.
The First Settlers
In about 1690, ten families arrived in this pleasant valley to forge a new life in the wilderness. While their departure point is not documented, it is believed that they came from the Bayonne area following rivers and streams North and then West. Literally, they cleared the forest to create farms thereby establishing a western, Dutch speaking outpost of British America. And they brought with them their frugal and industrial Dutch ways and their deep belief in God.
The earliest settlers likely held services in a barn and elected an elder from among themselves to spiritually lead them through bible readings. But that ultimately became impractical for both physical and spiritual reasons. A church and a minister were needed to spiritually guide this growing flock of perhaps 100 or so souls in this wilderness outpost.
Established in 1710
At that time ministers traveled from church to church and, given the distances and that there were no roads, it could take 3-4 days to reach Oakland from Hackensack. Any minister at best would be only an occasional but massively welcome visitor. Undeterred by this prospect in 1710 these hardy Dutch settlers petitioned to have the services of a minister.
Domine Bertoff answered their call and formally established the Church of the Ponds in 1710. By doing so, he established the sixth Dutch Reformed church in New Jersey and the first north of Hackensack. He served the Ponds Church in Oakland for sixteen years retiring in 1726. During his tenure as minister he witnessed the building of the first Ponds Church made of logs near the intersection of the current Ramapo Valley Road and Long Hill Road.
In Service to the American Revolution
In 1740 a stone, hexagonal church was built closer to the road on land donated by John Romaine and Jacob Garrison. The old log church was then used as a shelter for cattle.
In addition to being a house of worship, the 1740 hexagonal church was used by the Colonials during the Revolutionary War as the official seat of Bergen County and Bergen County Court after the British raided Hackensack and burned both to the ground. It served in this capacity until a log jail and courthouse was built 1 ½ mile north along Ramapo Valley Road in Oakland. And it was also in this church building that George Washington prayed and from whose pulpit the Declaration of Independence and the Treaty of Paris successfully ending the American Revolution were read.
Unfortunately, no actual drawings or paintings are known to exist of either the 1710 or the 1740 church buildings.
Into the Nineteenth Century
The stone 1740 Ponds Church building served its congregation for nearly 90 years until it too experienced the decline due to age.
In 1829 the classic Ponds Church building was erected to replace the 1740 hexagonal edifice. The congregation made the decision to replace it at the identical location using in part the original stones from the 1740 structure. That decision was both economic and symbolic of the continuity of the church in service to God and the community. Church services were held in the Demarest barn nearby during its construction.
The 1829 Ponds Church was classic in design measuring 36 feet wide by 44 ½ feet long with a belfry measuring 24 feet high on top of its peaked roof. Cornelius Demarest, a professional mason from Paramus, built it. It had 3 sets of gothic design windows on the sides which, in addition to a knave, were added in 1880 by Peter Demarest. Sixteen rows of pews were on the main floor with two stepped pews added on each side above. In the same year the original two entrance doors were replaced by a single entrance.
By 1845 the congregation of the Ponds Church had grown to a size that would support its own full time minister. They recruited Domine Collins and provided a parsonage on Long Hill Road (still existing), eight acres of land, some chickens and hogs in addition to an annual stipend. Domine Collins was recruited and served the Ponds Church for 22 years until 1867.
In 1885 the Ponds Church even spawned the Christian Endeavor Society which was a social outreach arm of the organization to propagate the fundamental tenets of the church. They built Ivy Hall next to the current police station which ultimately became the first Oakland municipal building after secured its independence in 1902.
It’s Time to Move
By 1920, time and modifications took their toll upon this classic 1829 structure. These factors set into motion a monumental decision. Since the 1829 church was in disrepair and literally falling apart, it was decided in 1921 to build a ‘temporary’ chapel nearer to the center of Oakland until a solution could be found fore the repair the 1829 church. But by 1934 during the throes of the Depression, the decision was made to close the 1829 church and sell the land.
The die was then cast to ultimately create the core of the current edifice, the fourth physical incarnation of the Church of the Ponds. It was to be a simple, wood-framed, temporary chapel known as the ‘Workhouse of God’. However, the decision in 1934 to close and sell the famed, historic1829 church building mandated a renewal in a new location. The ultimate site selection was about one mile North of the original site on Ramapo Road.
In 1937 during the Depression the Ponds Memorial Building was built by the WPA designed as an enlarged replica of the 1829 church building, a clear nod to the respect for the contribution of the Ponds Church to this community. Indeed, the stones from the 1829 building were incorporated into the new structure and their origin was from the 1740 Ponds Church building.
Then to Now
To be sure, that chapel was a humble beginning that was to ultimately add yet another chapter in the storied history of the Ponds Church. Even that was in jeopardy in 1955 during the go-go building boom in Oakland. The then mayor attempted to prevail upon the church elders to move yet again and accept a land swap such that a strip mall could be built and not encumbered by a mere church building. Thankfully, he failed in his efforts.
But it was the same go-go building boom in the 1950s that swelled Oakland and the membership of the Ponds Church. This in turn initiated plans for the expansion of the wood-framed ‘Workhouse of God’.
No sooner than the mortgage of the 1921 Ponds Chapel building was paid off in 1955, plans were afoot in 1956 to raise $100,000 to significantly expand the current building. Those plans ultimately yielded the current magnificent Ponds Church building that we see and admire today. The design called for the building of an entirely new church with a 90-foot steeple having a seating capacity of 250. It was designed to face south as the original 1829 building while retaining the chapel as an integral part for other religious purposes. The ultimate cost was $230,000.
Appropriately the newest Ponds Church building was dedicated during the celebration of the 250th Anniversary celebration of the Ponds Church in Oakland in 1960.
End