The Bradford Center Meetinghouse is a historic church at 18 Rowe Mountain Road in

Bradford, New Hampshire Bradford is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,662 at the 2020 census. The main village of the town, where 372 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Bradford census-designated place (CDP) ...

. Built in 1838 in what was then the town center, it is a well-preserved example of rural Greek Revival church architecture. The meetinghouse 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 2013.

Description and history

The Bradford Center Meetinghouse stands in what is now an out-of-the-way location south of the modern town center, on the north side of Rowe Mountain Road a short way east of its junction with Center, West and County Roads. It is set among other trappings of the early town center: a grassy common and the town's first cemetery. The building is a typical rural 19th-century New England church, a wood-frame building resting on a granite foundation. The front facade of the church features a pair of doorways, each flanked by sidelight windows and pilasters supporting an entablature. A single 12/8 window is centered above the doorways, while the side walls each have three 20/20 windows. The tower has a belfry supported by eight columns, and still houses the original 1838 bell. Both the interior and exterior have experienced only relatively modest changes since the building's construction. The Greek Revival church was built in 1838, in response to state legislation mandating the

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 ...

. The town's first meetinghouse, built in 1796, had been used for both religious and civic purposes; it would later be dismantled and moved to a location nearer the railroad tracks, where it now serves as the

Bradford Town Hall Bradford Town Hall may refer to: * Bradford City Hall Bradford City Hall is a 19th-century town hall in Centenary Square, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade I listed building which has a distinctive clock tower. History Befor ...

References

{{NRHP in Merrimack County, New Hampshire Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Greek Revival church buildings in New Hampshire Churches completed in 1832 Churches in Merrimack County, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Merrimack County, New Hampshire Bradford, New Hampshire

Description and history

See also

References