Bradford Center Meetinghouse facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Bradford Center Meetinghouse
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 Location in New Hampshire
Location in the United States
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| Location | 18 Rowe Mountain Road, Bradford, New Hampshire |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1838 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 13000384 |
| Added to NRHP | June 14, 2013 |
The Bradford Center Meetinghouse is a really old and special church. You can find it at 18 Rowe Mountain Road in Bradford, New Hampshire. It was built way back in 1838. Back then, this area was the main part of town! This building is a great example of a Greek Revival style church. It looks like ancient Greek temples. The meetinghouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. This means it's an important historical building.
Contents
What is the Bradford Center Meetinghouse?
The Bradford Center Meetinghouse is a historic church. It stands in a quiet spot today, south of the main town center. You'll find it on the north side of Rowe Mountain Road. It's near where several other roads meet. This area used to be the heart of the early town. There's a grassy common and the town's first cemetery nearby.
How Does the Meetinghouse Look?
This building is a typical New England church from the 1800s. It's made of wood and sits on a strong granite foundation. The front of the church has two main doors. Each door has tall, narrow windows on the sides. These are called sidelight windows. There are also flat, decorative columns next to the doors. These are known as pilasters. They support a decorative band above the doors, called an entablature.
Above the doorways, there's a single large window. The side walls each have three big windows. The church also has a tall tower. This tower has a belfry, which is where the bell is kept. The belfry is supported by eight columns. The original bell from 1838 is still inside! The church has not changed much since it was built. Both the inside and outside look very similar to how they did long ago.
Why Was This Church Built?
The Bradford Center Meetinghouse was built in 1838. This happened because of a new state law. This law said that the church and the government should be separate. Before this, the town's first meetinghouse, built in 1796, was used for everything. People held both religious services and town meetings there.
After the new law, the old meetinghouse was taken apart. It was then moved closer to the railroad tracks. Today, that old building is the Bradford Town Hall. The new Bradford Center Meetinghouse was then built just for religious use.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Merrimack County, New Hampshire
- New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 108: Bradford Center
