The First Congregational Church of Cheshire is a historic church at 111 Church Drive in

Cheshire, Connecticut Cheshire ( ), formerly known as New Cheshire Parish, is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Cheshire was 28,733. The center of population of Connecticut is located in Cheshir ...

. Built in 1827, it was designed by David Hoadley and is a prominent local example of Federal period architecture. It was added to 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 1973. and The congregation is affiliated with the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...

Architecture and history

First Congregational Church, Cheshire CT

The First Congregational Church is located in Cheshire's town center, on the west side of

Connecticut Route 10 Connecticut Route 10 is a state highway that runs between New Haven and the state line near Granby. It continues north of the state line as Massachusetts Route 10, which in turn continues directly to New Hampshire Route 10. Route 10 was origina ...

opposite the town hall. It is separated by CT 10 by a surviving element of the town green, now owned and managed by the church, and is accessed via Church Drive. It is a two-story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof and clapboarded exterior. Its front facade has a projecting four-column temple front, with round fluted columns rising to Ionic capitals and a fully pedimented gable. Straddling the projecting and the main roof is a tower, with a square base section housing a clock, two octagonal stages (one of which houses an open belfry), and a conical steeple ending in a cross. Five other Congregational churches were built on essentially the same design in the

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

towns of

Old Lyme Old Lyme is a coastal town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The main street of the town, Lyme Street, is a historic district with several homes once owned by sea captains. Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is located in Old Lyme and the ...

(the 1816-17 Old Lyme Congregational Church), Milford (1823), Litchfield (the 1829

First Congregational Church of Litchfield The First Congregational Church of Litchfield is a congregation of the United Church of Christ in Litchfield, Connecticut, USA, occupying a historic building on the Litchfield green. History The church was founded in 1721, when the town was fir ...

Southington Southington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 43,501. Southington contains the villages of Marion, Milldale, and Plantsville. Geography Southington is situ ...

(1830), and Guilford (the 1830

First Congregational Church of Guilford First Congregational Church of Guilford is a United Church of Christ congregation in Guilford, Connecticut. The church was founded in 1643, just a few years after the first settlement of Guilford in 1639. At that time, under the theocratic structu ...

). All six churches have front porticos with four fluted columns, the doors of all six have the same dimensions, all six

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religi ...

s are of the same design and are surmounted by

weathervane 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 ...

s that appear to have been cast from one mold, and all six churches have twenty-over-twenty double-hung windows. The similarities suggest that some of the building elements may have been prefabricated.

References

External links

Church website
{{DEFAULTSORT:First Congregational Church Of Cheshire Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Federal architecture in Connecticut Churches completed in 1827 19th-century United Church of Christ church buildings Cheshire, Connecticut United Church of Christ churches in Connecticut Churches in New Haven County, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in New Haven County, Connecticut 1827 establishments in Connecticut

Architecture and history

See also

References

External links