Walking Tour

Walking Tour

Mount Tabor, New Jersey
Mount Tabor was founded as a Methodist camp meeting ground, the site where a camp meeting was held for 10 days or so each summer. The camp meeting itself consisted of a heavy schedule of religious services, prayer meetings, and uplifting lectures. Shortly after its founding in 1869 it became evident that the early participants in the community would not be content to spend only the short period of the camp meeting here, and very quickly Mount Tabor became a summer resort community. Eventually the summer tents and cottages became year-round homes, still within the dimensions of the original 25' x 16' tent lots. Today, Mount Tabor is a very special community. It has an historic heritage that is being proudly preserved. It is a community full of good will and good neighbors. We hope you enjoy visiting Mount Tabor as much as we enjoy living here!

Trinity Park
The Circle, the name commonly given to Trinity Park in the 19th century, was the scene of large and enthusiastic camp meeting services. In 1877 it was reported that "the Circle will seat 4,000 people and within hearing of the services 8,000 people can congregate. There have been times in the past when no less than 12,000 people have been packed within this enclosure." Imagine rows and rows of simple wooden benches as well as surrounding porches, both upper and lower, filled with attentive worshippers.

Tabernacle
Architect: John Post of Paterson
Builder: C. White of Paterson
Erected: 1885
A true Camp Meeting style structure, reminiscent of a large meeting tent, the Tabernacle is an elongated octagon with corresponding cupola and hip roof. The Preacher's Stand originally projected from the park side of the building where there were four sets of double doors. Note the board and batten siding, the large triple hung sash with 6-paned windows, and the large double 4-panel doors with 12 pane transoms. The lower level of the building was designed for four commercial spaces, and in the summer of 1885 was occupied by the post office, a barbershop, a fancy goods bazaar, and a drug store. The interior space was meant to accommodate up to 1200 persons for services and entertainments. The interior was originally lit by gas fixtures with large glass globes.

25 Trinity Place
Original owner: Honl. Peter Smith of Waterloo
Erected: 1870
One of the first cottages built in Mount Tabor, it was described as plain but comfortable. In the mid-1870s it was remodeled into a very neat and cozy cottage and architectural adornments (gingerbread vergeboards and balustrades) were added. Note the sawn vergeboard under the gable.

27 Trinity Place
Original owner: Rev. C.S. Coit of Jersey City
Erected: early 1870s
In 1903 the front porch of this cottage was enlarged and an addition put on the rear. Note the Italianate canopy over the door to what was originally an upper porch, and the charming cupola.

29 Trinity Place
Original Owner: J.M. Tuttle
Erected: mid 1870s
In 1878 the kitchen was extended and the bay window added. Note the pointed arch windows in the attic.

East Pass
At the left side of the Library visitors can see East Pass, one of several footpaths which were part of the original layout of the community. It extends three blocks to the east.

Mount Tabor Library
(Ebenezer Pavilion)
Prayer Tent: 1869
Pavilion erected: 1873
Pavilion enclosed: 1901
While the Ebenezer Pavilion and the Bethel Pavilion, across Trinity Park, were virtually identical prior to enclosure, this one retains more of its original character. Note the eave trim all the way around the roof edge, the square cupola, and the board and batten siding. Nineteenth century accounts of Mount Tabor tell us that at one time there was a map of the Holy Lands worked in colored sand on the dirt floor of the Ebenezer Pavilion. The flat roof portico supported by four Tuscan columns dates to the enclosure of the building in 1901. The building has served as the community library since 1901, and is now a branch of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Public Library.

33 Trinity Place
Original owner: Dr. J.P. Stickle of Newark
Erected: ca. 1870, with extensive remodeling in 1877
Although not much is known about the original appearance of this cottage, we do know that it started as a small, simple and unadorned residence and that the 1877 renovations included a bay window, architectural detailing, and "tasteful fence." In 1882 readers were told that, "This residence has all modern improvements, including bathtub, lavatories, etc, with hot water attachments. The cottage is fitted with pipes and boiler and range, but to avoid the generation of heat, they have never been utilized." The cottage is Eastern Stick Style with projecting gable roof and gingerbread trim. Note the combination of fish scale siding and clapboard which gives rhythm and character to the building. The arched 4/4 sash windows and arched double doors as well as the double door entrance to the balcony lend visual interest to the park facade. The house is little changed from its late 19th century appearance. Early photographs (pre-1900) of the house show simulated block siding with corner quoins and a shallower porch with decorative striped awnings. This cottage, and its neighbor number 35, were chosen by artist Lucille Hobbie in 1992 for portrayal in her "Historic Morris County" series of lithographs.

35 Trinity Place
Original owner: M.S. Allison, ship-builder of Jersey City
Carpenter/builder: Samuel Cosgrove of Jersey City
Erected: 1877
A stunning survival today, this cottage was no less remarkable in its infancy, when it was written, "This is perhaps the finest single cottage upon the grounds, having recently been completed at a cost of over $2000. It is in fact a substantial residence, occupying two lots, built in a becoming order of architecture, and with a view to comfort and convenience in its interior arrangements. Upon the first floor are parlor, dining room, and kitchen, and upon the second seven sleeping apartments." The "becoming order of architecture" is Stick Style with hints of Eastlake, highlighted by cutout patterns, pendants and medallions. Don't overlook the small gable roof cupola, the knee braces which support the projecting gable and its decorative stick work.

37 Trinity Place
Erected: mid 1870s
Note the Gothic pointed-arch tracery supporting the upper porch roof.

39 Trinity Place
This house is believed to be an enlargement of what was originally a combination tent cottage (called "half tent-half cottage") erected in the mid-1870s for Daniel R. Lowrie, D.D. of Bloomfield. Dr. Lowrie called his tent-cottage "Sweet Home." It included a parlor, study, dining room, modern kitchen, and sleeping rooms, and had a miniature lawn and gardens around it. Dr. Lowrie was a prominent leader of the campground - he served a president of the Camp Meeting Association Board from 1887 to 1896 and during the camp meeting itself ran the Young People's Services.

Fountain
A cast iron fountain was put in place at the top of Trinity Park or "The Circle" in 1875 at a cost of $225. This fountain, a replica of the original, was purchased with funds donated by the community and erected in 1992.

37 Morris Avenue
Original owner: Mrs. Osee Fitzgerald
Erected: 1877
Mrs. Fitzgerald and her son, the Rev. Fitzgerald, had this cottage built. The Rev. Fitzgerald was later made a bishop of the Methodist Church and also served as president of the Camp Meeting Association of Ocean Grove from 1897 until his death in 1908. Mrs. Fitzgerald was a very active leader in the church's Holiness Movement. Her Holiness meetings were held in the lower level of her home until her death in 1907. A plaque in the Tabernacle honors her contribution to the religious life of early Mount Tabor. Note the balcony on the park side of the house. Tradition has it that Bishop Fitzgerald preached to listeners in the park from this spot (this seems unlikely). Note the sawn wood ornament in the gable ends.

32-34 Trinity Place
Original owners: J. Smith Richardson of Jersey City
Dr. J.W. Cosad of Jersey City
Rev. Alexander Craig of Westfield
Erected: 1873
Mr. Richardson and Dr. Cosad joined resources to make the most of three adjacent lots on Trinity Park. When the treble cottage was completed Dr. Cosasd occupied the upper residence (left half of No. 32), and the center unit was purchased by Rev. Craig, Presiding Elder of the Jersey City District of the Methodist Church. "Architecturally this treble cottage is one of the prettiest buildings on the grounds, and its very appearance denotes taste and refinement. It is ornamented by a French roof, bay windows, and plate glass door[s], and is in every essential a beautiful place of residence." (1877) Note the large plate glass windows across the front of the building-an unusually striking feature for its time. The house originally had a second story porch on the front and decorative vergeboards under the eaves. The middle and upper cottages were converted to a single residence in the 1950s. No. 32 Trinity Park is the only cottage in Mount Tabor which has never been sold. It is owned and occupied by a descendant of J. Smith Richardson. Note the distinctive mansard ("Second Empire") roof with a pattern worked in multi-colored slate. At the back of the structure, from Wesley Place, can be seen original detailing in brackets, post supports and remaining sleeping porch.

West Pass
West Pass is seen at the left of the Bethel and extends 3 blocks to the west.

The Bethel
Tent pavilion: 1869
Pavilion erected: 1873
Pavilion enclosed: 1886
This building was initially erected as an open-sided prayer pavilion for religious services and meetings. The one-story octagon is topped with a low pitched octagonal hip roof and square cupola. The eave trim, now missing, would once have duplicated that seen on the Library, across Trinity Park. Note the large double hung 6/6 sash windows. The original exterior siding was board and batten. After enclosure it was known as the "Children's Pavilion" and during the Camp Meeting children's services were held here everyday from 4 to 5 PM. The shed roof vestibule was added to the front entrance in the 1940s.

26 Trinity Place
Original owner: David Campbell, Esq. of Jersey City
Erected: 1870/71
In 1877 this was described as a double cottage, running through from Trinity Place to Wesley Place, with a front on either street. The Wesley Place cottage was used for culinary and other household work. Note the pointed arch window frames on the second floor and the pierced ornamental pediment above the doorway. David Campbell served as president of the Camp Meeting Association board from 1877 to 1887 and guided the new community through its formative years.

24 Trinity Place
Original owner: C.A. Wambaugh
Erected: ca. 1870
In the 1870s and 1880s this cottage, described as "a neat appearing structure, in perfect keeping with its elegant surroundings," was owned by Lucy C. Young of Belvidere. In the basement of the cottage was the Mount Tabor Book and Stationery Store, originally run by Rev. Mr. Cronce. Note the pointed arch windows on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Trinity Park facade. The double porches would have made this an ideal spot for listening to the camp meeting speakers.

Click here for a map of Mt. Tabor.