Newtown Presbyterian To Host Strawberry Social At Historic Church

NEWTOWN, PA — Sweet weather, sweet berries and sweet surroundings. It doesn’t get much better than that.

The Historic Presbyterian Church on Sycamore Street will host an Olde Fashioned Strawberry Social on Sunday, June 4 following the 10 a.m. service.

Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., visitors can enjoy bowls filled with luscious berries while socializing with neighbors under bright sunny skies.

During the hotter summer months, Sunday worship services are held at the historic church at 9 a.m. every Sunday in June, July and August followed by refreshments on the lawn at 10 a.m.

About the Church.

In 1769, during the pastorate of the church’s second installed pastor, the historic stone structure at 76 N. Sycamore Street was built. Later, in 1782, it was remodeled and in 1987 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In December of 1776, because it was one of the largest buildings in town, General Washington commandeered it and used it as a hospital, a jail and a P.O.W. “camp.” After the Battle of Trenton, several hundred Hessians were held there before they began their long march to Philadelphia where they would be exchanged for American soldiers.

The small building on the south side of the church is the Session House. It was built about 1798, used as a meeting place for the session, and is one of only two such buildings in the county still standing. Because most early session members were farmers and did not get to town except on Sunday, a quiet place was needed to conduct church business.

Behind the church is a cemetery that contains the graves of eight men who fought in the French and Indian Wars and 28 burial sites of church members who followed General Washington in the Revolutionary War. In the back, just in front of the wall, is the grave of a man who stood for the Union during the Civil War.