Historic Church

Congregational Church of Westborough // 1834

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The Evangelical Congregational Church of Westborough, Massachusetts, has its roots in the first church in Westborough, established on Powder Hill in 1724 under Reverend Ebenezer Parkman. The Religious Freedom Act of 1811 and the official separation of church and state, encouraged a diversity of religious views in Westborough and a branching out from the First Church. As a result the church here split in 1834, with some members forming the Evangelical Society, and those who remained, became the First Congregational Unitarian Society. The newly formed Evangelical Congregation built this church at the corner of West Main and Church streets in 1834 and the building is a typical 1830s Greek Revival style religious building in the state. In 1869, the church was remodeled, where the first floor was jacked up to provide basement meeting rooms.

Prospect Hill Congregational Church // 1887

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Located at the corner of Bow and Walnut streets in Somerville’s Union Square commercial center, the former Prospect Hill Congregational Church is one of the finest examples of the Richardsonian Romanesque style in the city. The congregation here was established in 1874 and originally met in private residences before erecting its first building on Warren Street in 1876. After two decades, the membership and prosperity of the congregation grew, allowing it to purchase a more prominent lot nearby and the ability to hire an architect for a new, substantial building. Architect Henry Squarebridge McKay furnished plans for the masonry building in 1887, clearly taking inspiration from the late Henry Hobson Richardson, who died the year prior. The church is constructed of brick with stone trimmings, features irregular massing with tall belfry tower, and a large arched entrance. After WWII, the congregation dwindled, and the building was later sold off. In the 1980s, the church was converted to residential use but without altering the exterior. 

First Universalist Church of Somerville // 1917

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The First Universalist Church of Somerville is located on the north side of Highland Avenue across from the First Unitarian Church of Somerville, in a completely different design. The congregation acquired this site in 1915, and the church was built from 1916 to 1923 to a design by the noted ecclesiastical architect Ralph Adams Cram, who produced a somewhat more Romanesque plan than the typical Gothical Revival work he is best known for. One of the key members of the building committee was Gilbert Henry Hood of the Hood Milk Company family. The new church was planned to house an “assembly room,” Sunday school classes, and a parish house. The church operated here for decades, but most recently was home to the Highland Masonic Building Association as the King Solomon’s Lodge. The lodge moved from the building and the property was purchased by a developer who hoped to demolish the building and erect a housing development. The building was deemed significant and “preferably preserved” by the Somerville Historical Commission, and landmark designation was initiated. The building was recently re-listed for sale, and would make a great adaptive reuse or even partial demolition for housing incorporated into the old church. Kudos to the Somerville Historical Commission for standing firm on this significant church by a nationally recognized architect.

First Unitarian Church of Somerville // 1895

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Located on Highland Avenue in the Central Hill section of Somerville, Massachusetts, the First Unitarian Church of Somerville is a landmark example of a church in the Romanesque Revival style. The church was built in 1895 from plans by the esteemed architectural firm of Hartwell & Richardson, and was the fourth and final building of the congregation, which was originally established in 1844. The congregation’s first church was a Gothic Revival style building designed by Richard Bond, but was destroyed by fire in 1852. A year later, the second edifice was designed and built by architect Thomas W. Silloway, which also burned in 1867. The church was replaced again by a Romanesque style structure in 1869. In the 1890s, when the City of Somerville purchased the building as part of the site for the new Somerville High School, a lot down Highland Avenue was secured and planning began for this building. The church is built of granite block with a steeply pitched gable roof, and a square tower at its right front corner. The prominent gable contains two arched entrances with a bank of five rectangular stained-glass windows below three tall round-arch stained glass windows. The congregation was dissolved in 1975 and a year later, the building was purchased by the Mission Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, an Apostolic Pentacostalist church, who continue to use the building today.

First Congregational Church of Abington // 1849

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Abington, Massachusetts was first settled by Europeans in 1668 and was officially incorporated in 1712. Its namesake was is said to have been set by Governor Joseph Dudley as a tribute to Anne Bertie Venables, Countess of Abingdon, wife of the second Earl of Abingdon, who helped Dudley secure the governorship of the Colony of Massachusetts from Queen Anne. Governor Dudley noted in its decree that, “the Town be named Abingdon”. A marginal note on the document gave the spelling as “Abington” with a “t”, which has served as the spelling ever-since. At the center of town, this handsome church is the fourth edifice of the Congregational Church Society in Abington, Massachusetts, and replaced the third church, which was occupied for just thirty years until 1849, when this Greek Revival structure was built. Located a stone’s throw from its former home, this church showcases the increase in membership and relative wealth of the congregation by the middle of the 19th century. The structure with its flushboard siding and bold Doric pilasters, features an arched center entrance and multi-stage tower containing a clock and enclosed belfry.

Scotland Universalist Church – Shetucket Grange Hall // 1843

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This charming, Greek Revival style building near the town green in Scotland, Connecticut, was built in 1843 as a Universalist Church for area residents who split off from more Congregationalist beliefs. By the end of the 19th century, populations shifted heavily to industrial centers where work was more plentiful, the church appears to have lost much of its membership and the building became a local grange hall. The Shetucket Grange was organized in June 1887, and was a meeting place for local farmers and their families to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and agricultural pursuits. Today, the building is owned by the town, but it’s use is unclear. Greek Revival in style, the building retains much of its original architecture, from its simple form, facade with two entrances flanking a central hung window, and pilasters framing the bays.

Scotland Congregational Church // 1842

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The main visual anchor of the charming town green of Scotland, Connecticut, is this building, the Scotland Congregational Church. Built in 1842 as the congregation’s third building, this Greek Revival style edifice features stately proportions, temple-front with four large Doric columns supporting the portico, and a two-stage belfry. The chapel (some say it was converted from the original town hall) was acquired by the congregation in 1867, and has remained in its new location ever since. Later alterations include the stained glass windows and clock in the pediment, which dates to the early 20th century.

East Church of Salem – Salem Witch Museum // 1844

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One of the most recognizable buildings in Salem is the former East Church, now occupied by the Salem Witch Museum. The East Church was constructed between 1844 and 1846 for the oldest branch of the First Church of Salem, which originally organized in 1718. The stunning Gothic Revival church has been credited to architect Minard Lafever (1798-1854), a prominent New York architect known for his Gothic, Greek and other Exotic Revival style buildings. Constructed of brownstone, a material Lafever utilized for his New York City churches built at the same time, the East Church exhibited pointed arch stained glass windows, crenellation resembling battlements, and once featured two, four-stage octagonal towers, which were cut down in the 1920s to their current height. The church suffered from a massive fire in the early 20th century and the church eventually moved out in the 1950s. The building was occupied by the Salem Auto Museum until another fire in 1969. In 1972, the Salem Witch Museum moved in and completely updated the interior.

First Congregational Church of Chicopee // 1825

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The First Congregational Church Society of Chicopee was organized as the Second Church of Springfield in 1751, when residents of land today known as Chicopee and Holyoke (then a part of Springfield) sought a parish church closer to their homes. Before Chicopee officially split from Springfield in 1844, the Second Church of Springfield built this Federal-Greek Revival style church building in 1825. Shepherd and Whitmarsh, prominent builders of Springfield were hired to erect the church. Both were trained under architect, Isaac Damon, thus the close resemblance to his designs for this church in Chicopee. The clapboard structure is simply designed but holds strong proportions and symmetry. The church has a four-columned portico with Ionic columns and a two-story square tower containing the belfry, blind octagonal stage with molded trim above, all capped by a dome surmounted by a weathervane. While the church now has replacement windows and plastic, ill-fitting shutters, the building is in great shape and tells the story of the early days of the development of Chicopee from sleepy parish town to industrial city.

Assumption Roman Catholic Church // 1922

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As Chicopee developed into one of the major industrial cities in Western Massachusetts, immigrant groups moved there, finding work at some of the major manufacturing companies. Irish and Polish churches were built and French and French Canadian residents too built their own church, where they could gather and worship in their native language. A wood-frame church was first built in the 1870s and used until it was destroyed by fire in 1912. It took a decade for the congregation to gather enough funds to purchase a new lot and build a new church, but patience was a virtue as their church is a stunner! The cornerstone for the church was laid in 1922 and the building was designed by local architect, George P. Dion, and constructed at the cost of $200,000. The building was dedicated in 1925 and is one of the finest, and most unique churches in the state. Italian Renaissance Revival in style, the church stands out for its 85-foot-tall campanile and cast-stone high-relief in the pediment at the facade. It is believed that within the relief, that depicts the figure of Mary surrounded by Cherubs, depicting the “Assumption of the Virgin,” George P. Dion used the likeness of his granddaughter as a face of one of the cherubs. The congregation moved out of the building but has been recently mortgaged to a new church, Iglesia Cristiana Casa De Paz y Restauración, showcasing the ever-changing demographics that keep our cities vibrant and stewards that do right by our collective history and buildings.