The First Parish Church is a historic church at 50 Church Street in
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, th ...
, whose
Unitarian Universalist
Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to:
Christian and Christian-derived theologies
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* Unitarianism (1565–present) ...
congregation has a history dating to c. 1696. The current meeting house was built in 1933 after a fire destroyed the previous building (the congregation's third) on the same site. It is a Classical Revival structure designed by the nationally known Boston firm of Allen & Collens.
The church building 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 1989.
Architecture and history
The church is located at the northwest corner of School and Church Streets, one block north of Waltham's
Central Square. It is a rectangular single-story structure, with a gable-roofed central section four bays wide that is flanked by flat-roof single-bay sections. A Classical Revival portico with fluted columns projects at the south-facing front facade, with the church tower set astride the transition between the projection and the main body. A school structure, added in 1957, is attached to the rear of the building.
[
The First Parish congregation dates to about 1695, when the area was part of ]Watertown Watertown may refer to:
Places in China
In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways.
Places in the United States
*Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town
**Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...
, and had grown sufficiently in population to merit a separate parish from the original 1630 congregation in Watertown. In 1720 the congregation acquired its first meetinghouse, moving a building from what is now Newton
Newton most commonly refers to:
* Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist
* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
Newton may also refer to:
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* ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film
* Newton ( ...
. Its second meetinghouse, located at Lyman and Beaver Streets, was built in 1767, and its third was built at this location in 1838. That building was destroyed by fire on August 24, 1932. The present church was built, partly on the foundations of the previous one, soon afterward. It was designed by the noted ecclesiastical architectural firm of Allen and Collins of Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
.[
]
See also
*
References
Further reading
*"Tercentennial History of The First Parish in Waltham Massachusetts 1696-1996", by Elizabeth D. Castner
External links
Official Church Website
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Unitarian Universalist churches in Massachusetts
Churches completed in 1932
20th-century Unitarian Universalist church buildings
Churches in Waltham, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Waltham, Massachusetts