The First Unitarian Church is a historic church and congregation at 12 West Franklin Street in

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Dedicated in 1818, it was the first building erected for Unitarians in the United States. The church is a domed cube with a stucco exterior. The church, originally called the "First Independent Church of Baltimore", is the oldest building continuously used by a Unitarian congregation. The name was changed in 1935 to "The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore (Unitarian and Univeralist)" following the merger with the former Second Universalist Church at East Lanvale Street and

Guilford Avenue This is a list of notable streets in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. A B C D E F G H Heath St. Route 64. (MTA Maryland) K L M N O P R Ramsay st S U W Y Numbered streets In Balt ...

in midtown Baltimore. The

American Unitarian Association The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...

(founded 1825) and the

Universalist Church of America The Universalist Church of America (UCA) was originally a Christian Universalist religious denomination in the United States (plus affiliated churches in other parts of the world). Known from 1866 as the Universalist General Convention, the nam ...

(established 1866) representing the two strains of

Unitarian Universalism Unitarian Universalism (UU) is a liberal religion characterized by a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists assert no creed, but instead are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth, guided by ...

beliefs and philosophies merged as a national denomination named the Unitarian Universalist Association in May 1961. The church building was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1972.

Description and history

The building built in 1817 on a plot of land in Howards Woods purchased for $20,000. It was designed by J. Maximilian M. Godefroy, a French émigré who also designed the St. Mary's Seminary Chapel on North Paca Street on the northwest edge of the City and the

Battle Monument The Battle Monument, located in Battle Monument Square on North Calvert Street between East Fayette and East Lexington Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, commemorates the Battle of Baltimore with the British fleet of the Royal Navy's bombardment ...

in the former Courthouse Square on North Calvert Street between East Lexington and Fayette Streets commemorating the

Battle of Baltimore The Battle of Baltimore (September 12–15, 1814) was a sea/land battle fought between British invaders and American defenders in the War of 1812. American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland ...

of September 1814 at

North Point North Point is a mixed-use urban area in the Eastern District of Hong Kong. Located in the northeastern part of Hong Kong Island, the area is named after a cape between Causeway Bay and Tsat Tsz Mui that projects toward Kowloon Bay. Locat ...

and the bombardment of

Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack ...

in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, and assisted the famed British-American architect

Benjamin Henry Latrobe Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was an Anglo-American neoclassical architect who emigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in the new United States, draw ...

in designing the "Baltimore Merchants' Exchange" at South Gay Street, between Second (now Water) and East Lombard Streets, the then-largest building n America, an 'H'-shaped, low domed on a drum Greco-Roman structure with a large rotunda beneath and a second-story interior catwalk balcony around the atrium. In its several wings were several Federal offices: the U.S. Courthouse, Post Office, Customs House, a branch of the Bank of the United States and early City Hall offices for Baltimore, and various offices for lawyers/attorneys, brokers, insurance agents, candlers, and shipping companies, steamship lines, and various other maritime businesses. Poor acoustics under the central dome led to an 1893 interior renovation, in which architect

Joseph Evans Sperry Joseph Evans Sperry (1854–1930) was an American architect, noted for designing buildings in Baltimore. He was born in Georgetown, South Carolina and later relocated to Baltimore, Maryland, where he partnered with James Bosley Noel Wyatt to for ...

added a barrel vault under the dome. The church features stained glass from the studio of

Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...

. The pipe organ was donated by

Enoch Pratt Enoch Pratt (September 10, 1808 – September 17, 1896) was an American businessman in Baltimore, Maryland. Pratt was also a committed active Unitarian, and a philanthropist. He is best known for his donations to establish the Enoch Pratt Free ...

and is a Niemann instrument. In the rear, on the north side along the West Hamilton Street alley is the Enoch Pratt Parish Hall, also housing church offices, constructed in 1879 of bricks salvaged from the townhouses torn down at West Mulberry at Cathedral Street for the first Central Building of parishioner Enoch Pratt's gift to the City of

, of a central library and four regional branches in 1882, constructed and opened 1886 (current building replaced it in 1931-33). The Parish Hall was renamed to commemorate his influence and guidance in the early years in 2008 and its interior is being restored to its Victorian appearance. A relief in the building's pediment was executed by Antonio Cappellano, who had also executed the carvings on the

. Deterioration caused it to be replaced with a replica in 1954. The building is significant in the history of

Unitarianism Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...

as the site of

William Ellery Channing William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Chann ...

's Baltimore Sermon of May 5, 1819, which laid the foundation for the Unitarian denomination. One block north of

Benjamin Latrobe Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was an Anglo-American Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical architect who emigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in t ...

's Baltimore Cathedral, (now the Basilica of the Assumption of Mary and the first cathedral constructed for Roman Catholics in America), The First Unitarian Church is located in the

-Belvedere neighborhood north of downtown and was formerly part of "Howard's Woods" on the estate north of old Baltimore Town of Col.

John Eager Howard John Eager Howard (June 4, 1752October 12, 1827) was an American soldier and politician from Maryland. He was elected as governor of the state in 1788, and served three one-year terms. He also was elected to the Continental Congress, the Cong ...

, commander of the "

Maryland Line The "Maryland Line" was a formation within the Continental Army, formed and authorized by the Second Continental Congress, meeting in the "Old Pennsylvania State House" (later known as "Independence Hall") in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in June ...

" regiment of the Continental Army in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

where the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and th ...

and its four square parks were laid out in 1821, two blocks north. His mansion "Belvidere" located at the current intersection of North Calvert and East Chase Streets which was torn down in 1874 as the street was extended further north towards the city limits at Boundary Avenue (today's North Avenue and the community developed during the 1830s 40's and 50's by the sons of the colonel. The First Unitarian Church is 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 ...

" on February 11, 1972 and designated a "

" a week later on February 20, 1972, which is maintained by the

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the man ...

and its

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

. It is included in the " Cathedral Hill Historic District" and the newly designated "

Baltimore National Heritage Area Baltimore National Heritage Area is a federally designated National Heritage Area encompassing portions of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The designated area includes the central portion of the city, waterfront, inner neighborhoods and portions of the ...

References

External links

*, including photo in 1978, at Maryland Historical Trust *
History of the Church and Organs
{{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland National Historic Landmarks in Maryland Churches in Baltimore Churches completed in 1817 Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore Unitarian Universalist churches in Maryland Baltimore National Heritage Area Historic American Buildings Survey in Baltimore Mount Vernon, Baltimore Baltimore City Landmarks

Description and history

See also

References

External links