South Swansea Baptist Church (formerly South Swansea Union Church) is a historic church building in
Swansea, Massachusetts
Swansea is a town in Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts.
It is located at the mouth of the Taunton River, just west of Fall River, south of Boston, and southeast of Providence, Rhode Island. The population was 17,144 at the 2020 cens ...
. Built in 1916, it is Swansea's best example of a Shingle-style church.
The church 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 1990.
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Description and history
The South Swansea Baptist Church is set at the northwest corner of Church Street and Gardner's Neck Road in an otherwise residential area. It is a -story wood-frame structure, set on a raised rubblestone foundation with a gabled roof. A gabled section projects on the south side, and there is at the southeast corner a square tower with an open belvedere below a tent roof. The gables each have groups of lancet-point windows, with a small round window in the gable above. The exterior is clad in wooden shingles, and the overhanging eaves have exposed rafter ends.[
The congregation of South Swansea began as a Sunday school operation in 1910, when the Gardner's Neck area was growing rapidly due to suburban residential development. It first met in private homes and other facilities. Religious services were organized in 1915, while land was sought for a church site. The church was completed in September 1916 on land purchased from Edwin Gardner; its architect is unknown. The property also includes a parish house, which dates to the 1960s.][
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See also
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References
External links
South Swansea Baptist Church web site
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Baptist churches in Massachusetts
Churches in Bristol County, Massachusetts
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Bristol County, Massachusetts
Shingle Style architecture in Massachusetts
Shingle Style church buildings
Buildings and structures in Swansea, Massachusetts