The First Church in Salem, gathered in 1629, is the oldest church in North America to be continuously governed by congregationalist polity. Until 1923, the First Church congregation used four successive buildings on the same location on Washington Street (the last, built in 1826, is now the Daniel Low Building). The congregation became Unitarian early in the nineteenth century. The congregation split into other churches over the years, most of which later merged again with First Church. East Church was established in 1718 and Barton Square Church in 1824. These two merged in 1899 to form Second Church and reunited with First Church in 1923. The former East/North Church building of 1844-1846 is now the Salem Witch Museum. North Church split from First Church in 1772. Its first meeting house, on the corner of North and Lynde Streets, was used from 1772 to 1836. The second meetinghouse, on Essex Street, was begun in 1835 and completed in 1836. It is made of Quincy granite and is considered an outstanding example of a Gothic Revival stone masonry church. Since North Church reunited with First Church in 1923, the united congregation has used the old North Church building. Continue reading “First Church in Salem (1836)”