Unitarian Memorial Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Unitarian Memorial Church
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Unitarian Memorial Church
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Location | Fairhaven, Massachusetts |
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| Built | 1901 |
| Architect | Charles Brigham |
| Architectural style | Late Gothic Revival |
| Website | https://uufairhaven.org |
| NRHP reference No. | 96001374 |
| Added to NRHP | November 22, 1996 |
The Unitarian Memorial Church is a beautiful old church located at 102 Green Street in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. It is home to the Unitarian Universalist Society of Fairhaven. This church is a very important historical building.
The church group started way back in 1819. They moved into their current building in 1832 and got their first minister in 1840. The current minister is Reverend María Uitti McCabe. The church is part of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is also known for being a welcoming place for everyone. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. This means it's officially recognized as a special historical site.
The Unitarian Memorial Church was built and paid for by Henry H. Rogers. He gave it to the Unitarians in 1904 to honor his mother, Mary Eldredge Huttleston. A famous architect from Boston, Charles Brigham, designed the church. He used a style called Gothic Revival, which looks like old European cathedrals.
The church is very tall, about 1014 feet (309 meters) high. It is 100 feet (30 meters) long and 53 feet (16 meters) wide. The main part of the church, called the nave, is 32 feet (10 meters) wide and 71 feet (22 meters) long. The main walkway is 62 feet (19 meters) long and 6 feet (2 meters) wide.
The church, its parish house, and the former parsonage (now called Harrop Center) are arranged around a nice grassy area. The outside of the church is mostly made of granite from local quarries. It also has beautiful carvings made from Indiana limestone. Inside, you'll see marble and limestone carvings. Forty-five skilled Italian artists came to Fairhaven to create all this amazing stonework.
Contents
Inside the Church: Sanctuary Features
The main worship area, called the sanctuary, has amazing wooden details. All the wood is English bog oak. Forty-five Bavarian artists carved it. No two carvings are exactly alike on the 32 pews, the fancy pulpit, or the organ cases.
- Golden Angels: Look up at the rafters above the pews. You'll see ten wooden angels covered in real gold. Each angel is ten feet (3 meters) tall. They hold items and have words carved on them. These symbolize ten important qualities of a thoughtful life.
- Zodiac Symbols: At the south entrance, there are twelve bronze symbols of the zodiac. They are set into the marble floor.
The Tall Tower
The church has a very tall tower, over 165 feet (50 meters) high. It's made of shiny granite and carved limestone. You can see it from many miles away. There are 180 granite steps inside the tower.
- Church Bells: Inside the tower, there are eleven bells that make a beautiful D Chime sound. They weigh a total of 14,000 pounds (6,350 kg). Iron hammers strike the bells to make them ring. The Meneelly Bell Company in Troy, New York, made these bells. You can play the bells by hand or electronically from a small room in the sanctuary.
Grand Bronze Doors
At the south entrance of the sanctuary, you'll find huge bronze doors. They have very detailed designs. Each door is solid bronze and weighs about 2.25 tons. Along the Gothic shape of each door, there are many small spaces. On the outside, these spaces have tiny canopies. Each one holds a finely made figure, about 9 inches (23 cm) tall. There are 38 statues in total. They show important people from the history of Christianity over 19 centuries.
Baptismal Font Area
From a covered walkway called the cloister, you enter the foyer. This area has a fancy bronze gate and a marble mosaic floor. Here, you'll find the baptismal font.
- Font Details: The font sits on elegant white Indian marble. It has bronze letters inlaid in the marble. Above the font hangs a large oak canopy. Johannes Kirchmayer carved this canopy. It features ten angels, each holding a scroll with one of the Ten Commandments. Above them are ten figures of men who taught and spread Christianity around the world.
- Stone Carvings: Below the grand vaulted ceiling, in the four corners, are stone carvings. They show the four stages of a woman's life: baby, youth, adult, and old age. Beautiful bronze medallions are set into the marble floor. They represent Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who wrote parts of the Bible.
The Church Organ
The church organ is a very impressive musical instrument. The original organ was built in 1904 by the Hutchings-Votey Organ Company. It had 2,300 pipes and was considered one of the best organs in the country.
- New Organ: In 1968, a new heating system damaged the old organ. So, a new one was built in 1971 by the Roche Organ Co. They kept the beautiful outer wooden cases and 12 of the best parts from the old organ. The new organ has 3,163 pipes and 50 different sounds.
- Organ Location: The organ is located on both sides of the main altar area. It is hidden behind the richly carved wooden cases of the original instrument. The part where the organist plays is in the choir loft, behind the pulpit.
- Decorations: The wooden cases are made of English oak, just like the rest of the church's furniture. The pipes you can see are covered in gold leaf. They are decorated with very detailed patterns. The design of the cases looks a lot like an organ case in Southwark Cathedral in England.
- Modern Upgrade: In 2008, the organ's control panel was updated digitally by Barry Turley. Today, this organ is still considered one of the finest of its size. All the decorative pipes in the two organ cases are covered in beaten gold. They are also very ornately decorated.
Amazing Stained-Glass Windows
The stained-glass windows in the church are truly special. They were created by an American artist named Robert Lewis Reid. These windows tell the story of the birth of Jesus. They use colors and shading that go from cool blues to warm earth tones.
- Beatitudes Windows: There are nine windows high up on the walls. Seven of these windows are named after one of the Beatitudes. These are the blessings Jesus taught his followers. You can see this teaching in the huge, 24-foot-high (7.3 meters) "Sermon-on-the-Mount" window on the west wall.
- Lifelike Figures: One amazing thing about these windows is how real the people in them look. It took two years to design and create them. These stained-glass windows were Robert Reid's most cherished work. They are considered a masterpiece and were his only work in stained glass.
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