Category: Churches

St. John the Evangelist Church, Clinton (1886)

by Dan//Churches, Clinton, Romanesque Revival

St. John the Evangelist Church

There were two St. John the Evangelist Churches in Clinton before the current one, at 80 Union Street, was built in 1886. Begun as a mission church to the growing community’s Irish immigrants in the 1840s, the the first church was dedicated on October 4, 1850. It was a wood frame church on South Main Street. As described by Andrew Elmer Ford in his History of the Origin of the Town of Clinton, Massachusetts, 1653-1865 (1896):

The inclosure of pine trees which today makes the former location of the church conspicuous, was set out under the direction of Father Boyce. At first, this church was much more simply furnished than in its later days. The galleries, the pews, the organ and the furnace were put in as the means of the people increased.

This building was soon outgrown, as was the second church, a temporary structure also built of wood, which was occupied in 1869. The original church was demolished in 1874. As related in a historical sermon by Rev. Edward J. Fitzgerald that appears in the volume commemorating the Semi-centennial Celebration of the Incorporation of the Town of Clinton, Mar. 14, 1850, which took place on June 17, 18, 19, 1900:

Already the old church was inadequate and the growing numbers and the increasing prosperity of the Catholics made the plan of erecting an enduring church, which would be a glory to the God who dwelt therein and an ornament to the town, no longer a chimera. The year 1875 saw the consummation of this project, when on August 8 the erstwhile curate, now the first Bishop of the Springfield diocese, laid the corner-stone of St. John’s Church in which we are assembled today. The basement finished, the work lagged somewhat for five years, when by the united efforts of the loyal and generous people of the parish, the superstructure was raised and ornamented, and 1886 saw it dedicated to God with the beautiful ceremonial of our church, the Right Reverend Bishop being surrounded by the most dignified members of his clergy, and the lesson of the event being pointed out by eloquent lips.

The parish is called Saint John the Guardian of Our Lady Parish at St. John the Evangelist Church.

Central Baptist Church, Westfield (1867)

by Dan//Churches, Romanesque Revival, Westfield

Central Baptist Church

The First Baptist Church of Westfield was formed in 1784. In 1833, the church split over the issue of supporting missions. Those in favor of supporting missions left to form the Central Baptist Church. Soon most of the members of the First Baptist Church were absorbed into Central Baptist. The new church’s first meeting house was built in 1837-1838 at the corner of Elm and Church Streets in Westfield. Plans for erecting the current church (at 115 Elm Street) began in 1863. The Chapel (now Hays Hall) was completed in 1867 and the sanctuary was built the following year.

Friends Meeting House, Adams (1782)

by Dan//Adams, Churches, Colonial

Friends Meeting House

In the 1760s, Quakers, mostly from the area of Smithfield, Rhode Island, began to settle in the area that would be incorporated as the Town of Adams in 1778. In 1781, the East Hoosuck Meeting of the Society of Friends was established. The following year the Society began construction of the Quaker (Friends) Meeting House at the corner of Friend and Maple Streets in Adams. The building, which took four years to build, is located in Maple Street Cemetery, where many Quakers are buried. The building‘s plainness reflected the religious ideas of the Quakers, who shunned ostentatious display and followed a code of strict simplicity. In 1827 the Society was split between the orthodox believers and the followers of Edward Hicks. Many Quakers began to move west in search of better economic opportunities. The Society of Friends held their last official meeting in the old Meeting House in 1842. A number of images of the building can be found here. Continue reading “Friends Meeting House, Adams (1782)”

Meetinghouse, Hancock Shaker Village (1793)

by Dan//Churches, Colonial, Hancock

The Meetinghouse, Hancock Shaker Village

The original Meetinghouse at Hancock Shaker Village was built in 1786. To gain more space, its first roof, a gambrel, was altered to a gable roof in 1871. By the late nineteenth century, the Shakers primarily used the meeting room in the Brick Dwelling for worship services. In the early twentieth century the Meetinghouse was being used for storage. It was taken down in 1938. In 1962, after Hancock Shaker Village became a museum, it acquired the Meetinghouse from the former Shaker Village in Shirley. The Shirley Meetinghouse was then moved to Hancock. Built in 1793 by by Moses Johnson, who had constructed the Hancock Meetinghouse (among many others), the Shirley Meetinghouse is the only eighteenth-century Shaker Meetinghouse to remain unaltered in its original firm.

First Baptist Church, Pittsfield (1927)

by Dan//Churches, Colonial Revival, Pittsfield

First Baptist Church, Pittsfield

The origins of the Baptist church in Pittsfield go back to the eighteenth century, but its first meeting house was completed in 1827. It was located on North Street, on the northwest corner of the burial ground. The church’s growth led to the construction of a larger building in 1850, which was enlarged and remodeled in 1874-1875. This church was demolished in 1920 to make way for the Onota Building. The First Baptist Church‘s current edifice, at 88 South Street, was built in 1927-1930 (the parish house being completed first in 1926). It was designed by Joseph McArthur Vance.

St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral (1869)

by Dan//Churches, Gothic, Springfield

St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Springfield

In 1865, a society was formed to establish a new Congregational church in the the north section of Springfield. The cornerstone for the new Memorial Congregational Church was laid on July 18, 1867. The church, constructed on a knoll at Plainfield and North Main Streets (an area now called Memorial Square), was designed by Richard Upjohn. The granite used for the building was the gift of Mr. William Flint of Monson. The church was dedicated on June 3, 1869. In 1940, Memorial Congregational Church merged with Hope Congregational Church (Hope Church merged with Faith Congregational Church in 1977). The former Memorial Congregational Church building was sold to the Hellenic Religious Building Fund Corporation to become St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church. A brick house on Auburn Street had become the church’s first building in 1907. The church moved to Patton Street in 1919. In 1977, one-third of the church community left to form the new St. Luke parish in East Longmeadow. St. George Church then became known as St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

United Congregational Church, Worcester (1885)

by Dan//Churches, Romanesque Revival, Worcester

Dissatisfaction over the choice of minister at the Old South Church in Worcester in 1820 led Daniel Waldo (1763-1845) to organize a new parish, originally called the Calvinist Church. The name was officially changed to Central Church in 1879. Waldo paid for the construction of the congregation’s first meetinghouse in 1823-1825. Located on Main Street, near George Street, it was later replaced by the current church, built in 1884-1885 at the corner of Salisbury Street and Institute Road. The Romanesque Revival-style Central Church, built of Longmeadow brownstone, was designed by Stephen C. Earle. When the studio of John LaFarge proved too busy to design the interiors, the church commissioned Sarah Lyman Whitman, a former student of William Morris Hunt. Central Church merged with Chestnut Street Congregational Church in 1982 to form United Congregational Church.