Additional images: 1874 map

        The Park Presbyterian Church was organized on April 2, 1848 at Library Hall on Market Street.  The first reverend was Ansel D. Eddy who was dismissed from the first church.  He was installed on June 1, 1848.   Two years later an edifice was erected on West Park Street near Broad Street. Rev. Eddy resigned in 1855 with the church struggling with debt, disappointment and prejudice.  In 1872 the building was abandoned.  After a remodeling it became Park Theatre and then in1887 it was remodeled again by the Newark Library Association for a library.  The Free Public Library occupied the building from 1889 until 1901 when the library on Washington Street was opened.  This building later became the home of the New Jersey Historical Society before the Society moved to its present location.   After the church was sold, land was purchased at the corner of Belleville Avenue and Kearny Street.  October 6, 1874 saw the dedication of the new church.  Seeing that this church was too small for the members, the chapel was demolished and a larger church was built and dedicated on April 20, 1885.

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