First Congregational Church of Cheshire facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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First Congregational Church of Cheshire
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Location | 111 Church Dr., Cheshire, Connecticut |
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Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
Built | 1827 |
Architect | David Hoadley |
Architectural style | Federal, Adamesque |
NRHP reference No. | 73001950 |
Added to NRHP | February 16, 1973 |
The First Congregational Church of Cheshire is a very old and important church building in Cheshire, Connecticut. It was built way back in 1827. A famous architect named David Hoadley designed it. The church is a great example of a style called Federal period architecture. This means it looks like buildings from the early days of the United States.
In 1973, the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This is a special list of buildings, sites, and objects that are important to American history. The church belongs to a group called the United Church of Christ.
What Does the Church Look Like?
The First Congregational Church is right in the middle of Cheshire. It's on the west side of Connecticut Route 10, across from the town hall. There's a nice green area in front of the church, which the church now takes care of. You can get to the church from Church Drive.
The church building is made of wood and has two floors. It has a pointed roof and its outside walls are covered with overlapping wooden boards called clapboards. The front of the church has a special entrance with four tall, round columns. These columns have fancy tops and support a triangular roof section.
On top of the main roof, there's a tall tower. The bottom part of the tower is square and has a clock. Above that, there are two octagon-shaped sections. One of these sections holds the church bells. The tower ends with a pointy, cone-shaped steeple, which has a cross on top.
Churches That Look Alike
Did you know that this church isn't the only one that looks like this? Five other churches in Connecticut were built with a very similar design. These churches are in Old Lyme (built 1816-17), Milford (1823), Litchfield (1829), Southington (1830), and Guilford (1830).
All six of these churches have a front porch with four columns. Their main doors are all the same size. Even their tall steeples look alike and have weathervanes that seem to have been made from the same mold! They also all have special windows with many small panes of glass. These similarities make people think that some parts of these churches might have been made in a factory and then put together on site.