The First Church of Christ, Scientist is a former

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...

church building located in

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...

. It opened in 1939 and closed in the mid-2000s, later being converted to a dance studio and offices.

History

The cornerstone of the First Church of Christ, Scientist was set in 1938 in Dedham Square, next to the Norfolk County District Court and the Dedham

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

. The church was finished and opened for worship in 1939. A 1940 image of the church shows it without a steeple, which was added sometime later. The congregation dissolved in the mid-2000s and the building was unused until 2009, when the back annex was reopened as office space. In May 2010, the main worship building was placed on the market, being advertised as a "creative/loft" space with 5,000 sq. ft. of floor space with the possibility of subdivision. In 2013, the church building was purchased by

Fred Astaire Dance Studios Fred Astaire Dance Studios, Inc. is a ballroom dance franchise chain of studios in the United States and Canada, named after and co-founded by famous dancer Fred Astaire. It is headquartered in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, USA. The company was co- ...

and converted for use. While it is thought that the Christian Scientists who owned at the church dissolved their congregation when they left their building, Christian Science USA still listed the church as an active one in their online directory in 2016, so it is possible that the congregation moved to a different worship location.

Architecture

The building itself is

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

Georgian Revival style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Georg ...

, with two large halls on two levels. There is a clapboard annex resembling a house jutting of the back of right side. The building is 5,000 sq. ft., and the property is 16,800 sq. ft. The church's steeple, which was added some years after the building's completion, is wooden with a square base with a railing at the top. The top railing surrounds a narrower square section with flattened corners, with

urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

-like ornamentations topping each corner. The third section consists of a stout octagonal structure, each side with an oval window. Above this is a tall spire with a gold

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

on top.

References

{{Dedham 1939 establishments in Massachusetts 2000s disestablishments in Massachusetts 20th-century churches in the United States Christian Science churches in Massachusetts Churches in Dedham, Massachusetts Former Christian Science churches, societies and buildings Former churches in Massachusetts Georgian Revival architecture in Massachusetts History of Dedham, Massachusetts Christian organizations established in 1939 Christian organizations disestablished in the 2000s