Wollaston Unitarian Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Wollaston Unitarian Church
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Location | 155 Beale St., Quincy, Massachusetts |
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Built | 1888 |
Architect | Edwin J. Lewis Jr. |
Architectural style | Shingle Style |
MPS | Quincy MRA |
NRHP reference No. | 89001318 |
Added to NRHP | September 20, 1989 |
The Wollaston Unitarian Church is a historic building in Quincy, Massachusetts. It was built way back in 1888. This special building used to be a church for two different groups of people. First, it was the Wollaston Unitarian Church. Later, it became the St. Catherine's Greek Orthodox Church.
Today, this interesting building is no longer a church. It has been changed into homes where people live. It's famous for its unique look, called "Shingle Style" architecture. Because it's so important to history, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. This list helps protect important buildings in the United States.
What Does It Look Like?
The Wollaston Unitarian Church building is located in central Quincy. You can find it at the corner of Beale and Farrington Streets. It's a great example of "Shingle Style" architecture. This style uses lots of wooden shingles on the outside.
The bottom part of the building is made of strong granite stone. The upper parts are covered in wooden shingles. There's a short, square tower at the corner. It has a pointy roof that flares out a bit. The main door is tucked into a space at the bottom of this tower.
On the side facing the street, there's a large, rounded arch. Inside this arch, you can see a beautiful stained glass window. A part of the building called the "parish house" was added in 1915. It's connected to the main church building.
A Building with History
This church building was first built in 1888. It was made for a group of people called Unitarians. They had formed their church group just one year before, in 1887. This was the third church built in the Wollaston area in 20 years. This shows how much the area was growing back then!
In 1960, the Wollaston Unitarian Church joined with another church in Quincy. After that, a new group bought the building. This group was the St. Catherine's Greek Orthodox congregation. They bought the building for $40,000. St. Catherine's had started their church in 1958.
Over the years, the St. Catherine's congregation grew bigger. In 2004, they moved to a brand new building in a town called Braintree. That's when the old church building on Beale Street was changed into homes.