History:

St. John’s Church was begun by a handful of Episcopalians who, having to hitch up their horses to travel to Allendale to worship, urged the Bishop of Newark to establish a mission in Ramsey.  They first worshipped in homes, and then in the Odd Fellows Hall.  Thankfully, in March of 1905, resident Edwin Carpenter donated a triangle of land at the junction of Main and Arch Streets for the cause.  George Crocker, whose family had made millions opening California to the steam engine, donated $11,000 to build the church itself in memory of his wife, Emma Hanchett Crocker.

Mrs. Crocker’s three children donated an additional $3,000 that paid for the pipe organ, the church bell and other church furnishings.  The Norman style church, designed by William Dewsnap of Allendale, was opened for public worship on February 25, 1906 and was consecrated on May 20, 1906 by the Right Reverend Edwin S. Lines, Bishop of the Diocese of Newark.

St. John’s was a mission church for nearly half a century.  After World War II Ramsey began to grow, and in 1951 St. John’s was made a parish church with the Rev. George Robert Dawson, its vicar, becoming the first rector.  Under his leadership, a parish hall was built and a parking lot was established across Main Street.