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History

The origins of the St. Charles A.M.E. Zion Church of Sparkill, New York can be traced to the “Swamp Church” which existed in the County of Bergen, New Jersey in a section known as Harrington Township.  The church at Skunk Hollow was on a site that would today be found on the present Route 9w, in the Town of Orangetown, in Rockland County, New York, a few miles southwest of the site of the current church.  The swamp church site had been acquired in the early 1850’s.  Records show that after the church was built, Reverend William Thompson deeded the land to the “trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Coulored people of the Township of Harrington” in 1856.  Reportedly named St. Marks Church, the swamp church was pastored by the Reverend Thompson, popularly known as “Rev. Billy”.