Trask Avenue

Pillar of Fire

An exit on the nearby interstate announces Zarephath as its main attraction, but that is a tease. The community, unincorporated and insular, is astonishingly easy to miss. The bulk sits off a main road on a strip of land tucked between the Millstone River and the D&R Canal. According to the 2010 census it is home to 37 permanent residents, although that seems generous. The primary resident remains Pillar of Fire International, a small Christian sect, headquartered there for about 100 years. Most structures are directly related to it – a couple of chapels, a handful of ministry buildings, and a few shuttered ones which once housed its evangelical college. A very modest assortment of homes and outbuildings also dot the area. For such a wisp of a community Zarephath (and Pillar of Fire) has faced mighty struggles. Hurricane Irene blew through in 2011 conspiring with the river and canal to engulf everything in 14 feet of murky water. There is a sketchy past association with the Ku Klux Klan, since denounced. Still, despite hardships, history, and the press of modern life Zarephath endures as much as a testament to the power of persistence as to the power of faith.

Main Building

reflections on the Life Center

canal house

reserved

chapel

green space, abandoned college building on right

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