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Acworth Congregational Church (The Church-on-the-Hill or Acworth Meetinghouse) is a historic church at the end of the
town common Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has a r ...
in
Acworth, New Hampshire Acworth is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 853. History Originally chartered by colonial governor Benning Wentworth in 1752, it was called "Burnet" after William Bu ...
. Built in 1821, its exterior is a well-preserved local example of Federal period architecture, with possible attribution to
Elias Carter Elias Carter (1781-1864) was an American architect whose first church design, at Brimfield, Massachusetts, was completed in 1805. He was born in 1781 to Timothy and Sarah (Walker) Carter in Ward, a village of Auburn, Massachusetts. His father, a ...
. Its interior now exhibits a
Victorian-era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardi ...
design, distinctive because it has survived later alteration. The church was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1975. It is now maintained by a local non-profit organization.


Description

The Acworth Congregational Church occupies one of the highest spots in the village center of Acworth, at the northern end of its oblong town common. It is a basically rectangular two-story wood-frame structure, covered by a gabled roof and wooden clapboards. A projecting entry section has its own triangular pediment (with
oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American ...
window) and pilasters, matching those at the corners of the main block. A four-stage tower (two square stages topped by two octagonal ones) rises above the main facade. The church's interior decoration is mainly the result of a redecoration in the 1880s. The church was built in 1821, with alterations at several points in the 19th century. Its design is clearly inspired by the Congregational Church of
Templeton, Massachusetts Templeton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,149 at the 2020 census. The town comprises four main villages: Templeton Center, East Templeton, Baldwinville, and Otter River. Geography According to ...
, which was designed by Elias Carter and influenced the design of a whole series of churches throughout the region. Attribution of this church's design to Carter is disputed, and the congregation's records of the period have not survived. The congregation was founded in 1773, and this was its second meeting house. Unlike the first, whose construction in 1784 was funded by the town, it was paid for exclusively by the congregation, over
separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...
concerns. The interior was restyled in the late 19th century. The building is now maintained by a local non-profit organization.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Sullivan County, New Hampshire This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Sullivan County, New Hampshire. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Sullivan County, New Ha ...


References


External links


Acworth Meeting House web site
{{NRHP in Sullivan County, New Hampshire United Church of Christ churches in New Hampshire Congregational churches in New Hampshire Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Federal architecture in New Hampshire Churches completed in 1821 Churches in Sullivan County, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Sullivan County, New Hampshire Acworth, New Hampshire