The Enfield Town Meetinghouse is a historic
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...
style meeting house located on Enfield Street at South Road in
Enfield, Connecticut
Enfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The population was 42,141 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and East Long ...
. Completed in 1775 and moved and restyled in 1848, it hosted the municipal government until the 1920s. Now managed by the local historical society as a museum, it 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 ...
in 1974.
Description and history
The Enfield Town Meetinghouse occupies a prominent location in the historic town center of Enfield, on the west side of Enfield Street (
United States Route 5
U.S. Route 5 (US 5) is a north–south United States highway running through the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Significant cities along the route include New Haven, Connecticut; Hartford, Connecticut; and Spring ...
) just north of its junction with South Street, and across the street from the fourth building used by the Enfield Congregational Church. It is a two-story wood frame structure, with a front-facing gabled roof, and clapboarded exterior. It is set on a brick foundation. The front facade is its most distinguished feature, resembling a Greek temple portico with four fluted Ionic columns supporting an entablature and fully pedimented gable. There are three entrances, the outer two identical single-leaf doorways topped by transom windows and framed by Greek Revival pilasters and corniced entablature. The center entrance is a double-leaf entry with similar surround but no transom.
The meetinghouse was built in 1773-74 by a local builder named Isaac Kirby, and was based on a similar building in
East Windsor. Originally located across the street, it was moved to its present location in 1848, at which time its Greek Revival features were also added. It served as the community's town hall and principal meeting place until the 1920s,
[ after which it served as a community meeting space, hosting dances, parties, and other events. It is now maintained by the local historical society as a museum.
]
See also
*
References
External links
Enfield Historical Society - Old Town Hall Museum
{{National Register of Historic Places
City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Greek Revival architecture in Connecticut
Government buildings completed in 1773
Town halls in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut
Enfield, Connecticut
Historic district contributing properties in Connecticut