First Baptist Church (Methuen, Massachusetts) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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First Baptist Church
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First Baptist Church Methuen MA
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Location | 30 Park St., Methuen, Massachusetts |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1869 |
| Architect | Rufus Sargent |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| MPS | Methuen MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 84002365 |
| Added to NRHP | January 20, 1984 |
The First Baptist Church in Methuen, Massachusetts, is a really old and beautiful church building. It's located at 30 Park Street. This church was built in 1869, but the church group itself started much earlier, in 1815! It's a great example of a special building style called Carpenter Gothic. Because it's so important, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Contents
Discovering the First Baptist Church
The First Baptist Church stands a little south of Methuen's main town center. You can find it at the corner of Park Road and Lawrence Street. It's a tall building, about one and a half stories high. It's made of wood and has a roof that slopes down on two sides, facing Lawrence Street.
What Makes the Church Special?
The outside of the church is covered in wooden clapboards. The roof has wide edges with cool, carved wooden decorations called jigsawn brackets. On the left side of the church, there's a square tower that goes up in three parts. At the very top, there's an open area where the church bell used to ring.
The roof sections below the bell tower have small, pointy windows called dormers. The openings in the bell tower look like Gothic arches. Most of the church's other windows also have this same pointed arch shape.
The Front of the Church
At the front of the church, there's a part that sticks out. It has a double door set inside a pointed arch. Above the doors, there's a window made of three parts, all shaped like Gothic arches. This design makes the church look very grand and old-fashioned.
A Look Back at History
The First Baptist Church group began on March 1, 1815. It started with just thirteen members! At first, they held their meetings in a house and then in an old meeting hall. They even made the old meeting hall bigger twice as their group grew.
Building the Church
In 1840, the church members built their first church building right on this spot. Sadly, that building burned down in 1869. But the community didn't give up! They quickly built the church you see today in the same year, 1869. It was officially opened in January 1870.
The person who designed this beautiful church was an architect named Rufus Sargent. He was from Newburyport. In 1878, a big bell was put in the church tower. It was made in Baltimore and weighed a huge 1600 pounds!
Changes Over Time
One interesting fact is that the tall, pointy part of the church, called the steeple, was removed in 1913. So, the church looked a bit different when it was first built compared to how it looks today.
Images for kids
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First Baptist Church Methuen MA
