Calvary Methodist / Baptist Church
West Fourth Street at Monroe Avenue
Calvary Baptist Church started April 27, 1895 with twenty members, some from Mount Olive Baptist. The Church building was dedicated on July 30, 1898, between West Fourth and West Second streets. In 1960, the congregation relocated into the old Monroe Avenue Methodist Church building.
Circa 1920s-1940s.
Calvary Methodist Church
Postmark 1927
Union News Company, New York
Vintage Postcard
Children of Israel Temple
New Street near Front Street
In 1890, ten patriarchs of the first Jewish families in Plainfield formed the city's first Jewish congregation, called Beth Tefelas Yental. It was named after Mrs. Marx, who donated the first Torah. Services were held in the Gutman residence. Funds were raised for a property on New Street for Beth Isho Tefelas Yental, which later changed to Children of Israel Temple. Between 1900 and 1918, the number of Jewish families in Plainfield increased from fifty to 450, supporting three congregations: Children of Israel, Ohavey-Zedek, and Temple Sholom.
Circa 1920s-1940s
Congregational Church
West Seventh Street and Madison Avenue
Established in 1879, this began as the First Congregational Church of Plainfield. They initially met in Reform Hall, and then the old Seventh-day Baptist church (later known as the Whittier School). In 1882, a church building was erected on the corner of West Seventh Street and Madison Avenue. The original building was torn down after the erection of a new sanctuary in the late 1960s. It is now named The United Church of Christ – Congregational.
Original Congregational Church