Tag: Congregational

First Congregational Church, Clinton (1892)

by Dan//Churches, Clinton, Gothic

The First Congregational Church in Clinton is located at 34 Walnut Street. The church began as the Second Evangelical Church of Lancaster in 1844, with a chapel being constructed at the southwest corner of Main and Sterling Streets.The congregation became so large that a new church was built on Walnut Street in 1846. It was remodeled and enlarged in 1858-1859. The construction and remodeling of of these church structures was supported by donations from H.N. Bigelow of the Bigelow Carpet Company. The current church was built in 1892. The Gothic Revival edifice has stained glass windows which were donated by a group of Chinese laborers who were working at the time on the construction of the Wachusett Dam.

First Congregational Church of Westfield (1860)

by Dan//Churches, Italianate, Westfield

The First Congregational Church of Westfield, located on Broad Street across from Westfield Green, is an impressive Italianate edifice. It is the church’s fourth meeting house. The first was built around 1673 and the second around 1720. The latter building burned in 1803 and was replaced in 1805 by a new meeting house, called the Bulfinch Church because of its Charles Bulfinch-derived design. According to Vol. 2 of Lockwood’s Westfield and its Historic Influences (1922):

The old Bulfinch church building was purchased by Hon. William G. Bates, moved to a lot back of its old location, and, the steeple having been taken down, used for carriage making and other purposes for many years, until destroyed by fire.

The present church building was erected in 1860, with L. F. Thayer as architect and George Green as builder. The efficient work of the latter was so highly appreciated when completed that the society voted him a gift of $500.

The original steeple was damaged in a windstorm on February 27, 1886, when it was torn off and crashed into the church. It was replaced by an extremely elaborate second steeple, which was in turn replaced by the current steeple, erected in 1962. Continue reading “First Congregational Church of Westfield (1860)”

South Deerfield Congregational Church (1821)

by Dan//Churches, Deerfield, Federal

The Congregational Church in South Deerfield was organized in 1818 and services were held in a schoolhouse on North Main Street. The current church building was constructed in 1821 to the north of the schoolhouse. The church was moved to its present location, at 71 North Main Street, in 1848. That year, there was a split in the church and the Second, or “Monument,” Church was founded, but the two congregations reunited in 1865.

South Congregational Church, Springfield (1875)

by Dan//Churches, Gothic, Springfield

Happy Easter!!! South Congregational Church in Springfield was organized in 1842. According to the “Historical Discourse” by Rev. S.G. Buckingham, published in The Fortieth Anniversary of the South Congregational Church of Springfield, Sunday, March 26, 1882:

The society proceeded at once to “purchase land for a Meeting House, and take all necessary measures for building said House;” also to “employ a minister and provide for public worship.” This was no trifling undertaking, for the number engaged in it was small, and they had none of the wealth now found here, and little of the means which any such enterprise could command now. There were only twenty persons organized into the parish, and forty made up the whole number of the original church. […] And when a lot was to be selected, it was taken upon a side street, and not upon Main street, rather than incur an additional indebtedness of $650—so careful were they about incurring a debt that might be burdensome, and yet so resolute in carrying forward their enterprise. That house of worship was located on Bliss street, a white wooden structure with a spire, and a chapel a little one side, with a study attached. It was a pleasant, comfortable church with galleries, seating about six hundred, and cost $9,463. […] The church was completed and dedicated January 12, 1843 […]

The time came, at length, when one more important step must be taken, before the church could be permanently established, and prosecute its work to best advantage. A new house of worship must be erected, and the location must be changed. Our people were moving away from the neighborhood of the old church, and the Protestant population in the vicinity was diminishing. Besides, we needed ampler and better accommodations. […] The site for the New Church, on the corner of Maple and High streets, was decided upon, and the work of building commenced, in the spring of 1873. The corner-stone was laid, with appropriate religious services, Saturday afternoon, July 19. […] This church was completed and dedicated, February 24, 1875[.]

The architect of the new church was William Appleton Potter. He had received his professional training in the office half-brother, the architect Edward Tuckerman Potter, who designed the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut. William’s High Victorian Gothic-style South Congregational Church shares many similarities with Edward’s Church of the Good Shepherd in Hartford.

Feeding Hills Congregational Church (1834)

by Dan//Agawam, Churches, Greek Revival

The origins of the Congregational church in the Feeding Hills section of Agawam (pdf) go back to 1757, when Agawam became the sixth parish of Springfield. A church was then organized in 1762. West Springfield was incorporated as a town in 1774, with Agawam as its second parish. Agawam and Feeding Hills were divided into two distinct parishes within the town in 1800. The previously shared meeting house, located between the two villages, was moved to Feeding Hills in 1799 and the Agawam parish built its own new meetinghouse in 1803. Agawam, including Feeding Hills, became a separate town in 1855. The current Greek Revival-style meetinghouse of the Feeding Hills Congregational Church was built in 1834.

Trinity Church, Waltham (1870)

by Dan//Churches, Italianate, Waltham

In the early nineteenth century, the First Parish Church in Waltham became a Unitarian church. The Second Religious Society of Waltham was established in 1820. Its meeting house was called the “Factory Church” because its membership was primarily made up of people connected with the Boston Manufacturing Company, which provided the funds for the building. This Society also leaned towards Unitarian views (it later united with the First Parish in 1839) and those with Trinitarian beliefs left to form the Trinitarian Congregational Church. The congregation erected a church building on the corner of Main and Heard Streets in 1826. The current church building, at 726 Main Street, was built in 1870. The organization of the church was changed in 1906, when it incorporated itself as the First Congregational Church of Waltham. It became a member of the United Church of Christ in 1957, but withdrew in 2006 to become an independent, trans-denominational congregation called Trinity Church.

First Congregational Church, South Hadley (1895)

by Dan//Churches, Romanesque Revival, South Hadley

While still a part of Hadley, South Hadley acquired its own minister and meeting house around 1733. When a new meeting house was built in 1761, a split occurred which eventually led to the erection of a separate meeting house in the eastern section of town, which became the town of Granby in 1768. A third church was built in 1815 and a fourth in 1875. This latter building was destroyed in the great fire of 1894. It was then replaced by the current building of the First Congregational Church.