Plymouth Congregational Church (New Haven, Connecticut)
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Plymouth Congregational Church, also known as Plymouth Church or Temple Keser Israel, is a former late-nineteenth-century
Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
at 1469 Chapel Street in
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
. The church, a fine example of Romanesque Revival architecture, 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 1983. The church is a notable example of an
adaptive reuse Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an existing building for a purpose other than which it was originally built or designed for. It is also known as recycling and conversion. Adaptive reuse is an effective strategy for optimizing the o ...
, having been converted into a synagogue and medical office building.


Description and history

The former Plymouth Congregational Church is located northwest of the
New Haven Green The New Haven Green is a privately owned park and recreation area located in the downtown district of the city of New Haven, Connecticut. It comprises the central square of the nine-square settlement plan of the original Puritan colonists in New ...
in New Haven's Dwight neighborhood, at the northeast corner of Chapel and Sherman Streets. It is a large masonry structure, built out of brownstone with Romanesque Revival styling. The facade facing Church Street is historically its principal facade, with a gable flanked by square towers. The left tower is the taller of the two, with a turreted belfry level topped by a polygonal roof. Original main entrances are set in recesses at the base of this tower. The congregation for which the church was built was founded in 1831 as the Missionary Church, and met in rented spaces until 1848, when its first edifice was built in College Street. The congregation acquired the present lot in 1884, and built in the early 1900s. It was formally renamed the Plymouth Congregational Church at this building's dedication in 1901. The congregation peaked in size in 1929, and declined after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The building was sold to the Temple Kezar Jewish congregation in 1949, and the congregation was eventually merged into the Center Church on the Green. The building was converted for use as a Jewish synagogue, a role it fulfilled until 1968, when Temple Kezar merged with Temple Beth El and moved into a new building. The building was abandoned and vacant for several years, inviting extensive vandalism and water damage. An initial attempt to convert the abandoned building into medical offices with the insertion of three floors and the complete destruction of any extant internal features was denied by the regional National Park Service office since the alterations would "… leave no area for perception of even part of the original. grand, open plan." Upon appeal, however, and a review of the damage already afflicted, the reuse was approved since the damage was seen to be beyond repair and the interior was gutted.Mark A. Bower, “Putting Offices in the Sanctuary: Utilizing Rehabilitation Tax Credits for Adaptive Reuse of Religious Buildings,” Inspired, Mar-Apr 1989: 4-6, 8, 16-17. and


See also

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National Register of Historic Places listings in New Haven, Connecticut __NOTOC__ This is a list of National Register of Historic Places listings in New Haven, Connecticut. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in the city of New Haven, Con ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plymouth Congregational Church (Former), New Haven, Ct Buildings and structures in New Haven, Connecticut Former churches in Connecticut Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Romanesque Revival church buildings in Connecticut Victorian architecture in Connecticut Churches completed in 1894 19th-century churches in the United States National Register of Historic Places in New Haven, Connecticut Congregational churches in Connecticut