First Parish Church in Plymouth | |
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The current First Parish Church building, built in 1899, in Plymouth is located downtown on Town Square at the base ofBurial Hill (on the right) | |
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Location | 12 Church St.,Plymouth, Massachusetts |
Country | USA |
Denomination | Unitarian Universalist |
Membership | 64 (2016) |
Website | firstparishplymouth |
History | |
Status | Active |
Founded | 1606 |
Architecture | |
Heritage designation | National Register of Historic Places |
Designated | 2014 |
Architectural type | Neo-Romanesque |
Years built | 1899 |
Clergy | |
Minister(s) | Rev. Art Lavoie |
First Parish Church in Plymouth is a historicUnitarian Universalist church at the base ofBurial Hill on thetown square offLeyden Street inPlymouth, Massachusetts. The congregation was founded in 1620 by thePilgrims in Plymouth. The current building was constructed in 1899.
The congregation was founded in the English community ofScrooby in 1606 by thePilgrims, a group of Protestant Christians. After they emigrated to North America in 1620, theSeparatist congregation established a church in Plymouth which became a parish church of Massachusetts'state church, theCongregational church. Eventually, a schism developed in 1801, when much of the congregation adoptedUnitarianism along with many of the other state churches in Massachusetts; the Congregationalist dissenters broke away to form the Church of the Pilgrimage. All state churches were disaffiliated with the government by 1834.[1]The congregation is currently affiliated with theUnitarian Universalist Association and has 64 members as of 2016.[2]
Originally, the congregation heldChristian services on theMayflower and then at a fort onBurial Hill from 1621 until 1648. The fort was also used for other colony events including meetings of thePlymouth General Court. In 1648 the first of four church buildings on the town square was constructed. Later churches were built in 1684, 1744, and 1831.Hartwell, Richardson & Driver designed the currentRomanesque-style building, completed 1899, which replaced the 1831wooden Gothic structure.[3] The 1899 building was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 2014. It has Tiffanystained glass windows illustrating the Pilgrim story. The sanctuary features carved quarter-sawn oak and is one of the finest examples ofhammer beam construction in the United States.
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41°57′19.9″N70°39′53.8″W / 41.955528°N 70.664944°W /41.955528; -70.664944