Our building
A House of Worship Through the Centuries
“Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5, NRSV)
1675
The First Meeting House
On May 27, 1675, the frame of the original Meeting House was raised. Reverend McNulty later described it as “a building about thirty feet square, unpainted inside or out, with no steeple or bell without and no stove within.”
A steeple, bell, and stove were added later, and the structure served the town until it was razed in 1803 to make way for a new church. Reverend Dally noted that “the southwest corner of the Meeting House impinged on the northeast corner of the 1803 church.”
The foundation of today’s sanctuary still rests on the original 1803 foundation stones.
1803
A New Sanctuary for a Growing Town
Construction of a new house of worship began in April 1803 and was completed and consecrated that December. A subscription program launched in 1802 raised $3,522, with payments scheduled over two years.
Designed and built by Elder Jonathan Freeman, the new sanctuary measured sixty‑six by forty‑six feet and featured a tower and steeple. It was a plain, functional Colonial structure with minimal exterior ornamentation and no side windows.
A bell for the spire was purchased in 1825 by popular subscription.
1875
A Victorian Transformation
By 1875, the 1803 building had undergone dramatic architectural changes. An organ donated by Henry Morris was installed around 1865, and a large Sunday School addition was built in 1868–69.
During the pastorate of the Rev. McNulty (1874–1906), the church’s appearance shifted from simple Colonial austerity to ornate Victorian style. New features included large soffits, a redesigned roof structure, stained glass windows, and a front vestibule.
McNulty wrote that its “remodeled beauty is also suggestive of the beauties of holiness by which its present worshipers are distinguished.”
1972
Renovation for a New Era
Between 1968 and 1972, the congregation undertook a major renovation. The old Sunday School building was demolished and replaced with a new two‑story masonry structure containing offices and restrooms.
The Victorian cornice and brackets were removed and replaced with a classical cornice and built‑in gutters. A new narthex and a portico with pediment and Ionic columns were added. The aging stained‑glass windows were replaced with tinted, seeded glass in keeping with the classical style.
Structural improvements included a new foundation, lowered basement floor, reinforced concrete sanctuary flooring, steel columns and girders, and balcony reinforcement. The choir loft was enlarged, exits were reconfigured, and the pews were refinished and cushioned.
Large steel H‑columns—now encased in wood—were installed to stabilize the steeple, which had leaned slightly eastward for many years.
