Baptist settlers were conducting worship services in this area as early as 1700, when church records called the region “a wild uncultivated place, but peopled with Indians in great abundance.” In 1720, Baptists refitted a farmhouse on this site for worship and used it until it was destroyed by fire. The present structure, known as the Old Yellow Meeting House, was built in the 1730s and is traditionally dated from 1737, making it the oldest existing Baptist church in New Jersey. Built on exact compass settings, its gable ends face east and west, providing a long southern exposure for heat and light. Originally part of the Baptist Church in Middletown, 47 founding members secured their release in 1766 and were formally organized as an independent church. The congregation was known as the Crosswicks Baptist Church until 1773 and thereafter as The Upper Freehold Baptist Church. In 1855, the Upper Freehold Baptists acquired their present site in Imlaystown, which gradually became the center of church life. Activity at the Old Yellow Meeting House declined, and it has not been in regular use since the late 1800s except for special occasions and annual reunions. The restoration of the meetinghouse was completed in 1991 by the Friends of the Old Yellow Meeting House.