Major Bibliographical References (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.) Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary location of additional data: - preliminary determination of individual listing (36 - State Historic Preservation Office CFR 67) has been requested - Other State agency - previously listed in the National Register - Federal agency - previously determined eligible by the National - Local government Register _ University - designated a National Historic Landmark X Other _ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey Name of repository: # First Baptist Church of Medfield - recorded by Historic American Engineering Record #. NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 1 OMB No.
1024-0018 First Baptist Church of Medfield Medfield (Norfolk Co.), MA 8. Statement of Significance Narrative Statement of Significance The First Baptist Church of Medfield, 438 Main Street (Photo #s 1 through 7), is a well-preserved building associated with the town's Baptist congregation, a vital presence in the community and at the town center since the third quarter of the 18" century. The wood-frame church is the congregation's second house of worship in Medfield, constructed in 1838 in the Greek Revival style and substantially remodeled in 1874 to its present Victorian Gothic appearance. In 1905, further renovations were made to the interior, particularly in updating the sanctuary in an Eastlake-style mode. The First Baptist Church is Medfield's best preserved survival of Victorian Gothic institutional architecture.
A contemporary wing (Photo #8), added to the east side of the church in 1969-1970, does not compromise the integrity of the 19**- century building. Taken together, additions and modifications to the church trace the congregation's growth as it reflects Medfield's historic development from 1838 to 1953. Retaining integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, the First Baptist Church of Medfield meets Criteria A and C, and Criteria Consideration A for a religious property, of the National Register of Historic Places at the local level. Established as a town during the Plantation period (1620-1675), also known as the First Period of English settlement in eastern Massachusetts, Medfield is one of fourteen towns carved, in whole or in part, from the territory known as the Dedham Grant (1636).
Medfield was set off from Dedham in 1650, its territory then encompassing the present towns of Medfield, Millis, and Medway. In 1651, the General Court recognized Medfield as a town. The first land grants in the Medfield area, once known by the native name Boggestow and later as Dedham Village, date to 1643, and constitute some of the earliest expansion of English settlement west of the settlement cluster at Dedham. Most of the first English settlers in Medfield were from Dedham, Braintree, and Weymouth. They were married sons from large families who sought opportunities to use their skills and so support their own families.
Both the town center and the river meadow served as principal foci for First Period settlement in Medfield With the laying out of Vine Brook (later Vine Lake) Cemetery (1651) and the construction of the first Congregational meetinghouse (1653-1656) and the first town pound (1654), Medfield's institutional core began to take shape on the present Main Street. The town initiated public education in 1655 with Ralph Wheelock, who attended Cambridge University, serving as schoolmaster. Medfield's location provided early settlers with extensive river meadows, which were well suited for grazing livestock. Hunting and fishing supplemented agriculture as the basis of the economy, and the town's upland streams provided power for gristmills and several sawmills. Available population records for Medfield show 261 inhabitants, with forty-nine voters, by 1663.
During the Colonial period (1675-1775), Medfield began its gradual evolution from a frontier community to a moderately prosperous rural town. In 1702, Medfield had 123 land proprietors. In 1713, Medfield's territory west of the Charles River was set off as the town of Medway, and further divided, in 1885, to create the separate town of Millis. Early 18h- century improvements to the road network put Medfield at the crossroads of regional highways to Dedham (later State Route 109) and Taunton (later old State Route 27). Taverns opened in the town's principal transportation corridors. Other new interior roads provided access to meadows along the Charles River and mills throughout the town.
At the town center, William Plimpton dammed Vine Brook in 1724 to power his fulling mill, creating what later became known (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 2 OMB No. 1024-0018 First Baptist Church of Medfield Medfield (Norfolk Co.), MA as Meetinghouse (or Baker's) Pond. This action initiated a long-term industrial use of the pond that continued into the late 19" century. Plimpton's fulling mill was one of several saw, grist, and fulling mills in Medfield that served local residents during the Colonial period, constituting the major industrial activity in the town at that time. According to William S.
Tilden, Medfield historian and himself a member of the town's Baptist Church, the first person known to have entertained "Baptist sentiments" in Medfield was Jonathan Adams (d. 1744). Adams was reportedly baptized at Swansea, where the first Baptist church in Massachusetts was organized in 1663 [MHC, Historic and Archaeological Resources of Southeast Massachusetts, p. 175] It does not appear that Adams was ever in fellowship with the Congregational Church in Medfield, as was the case, Tilden noted, "with most of those who became Baptists in those times." Adams' death coincided with the start of a seven-year period of dissention among some members of the Congregational Church in Medfield, sparked by the Church's settlement in 1744 of an assistant to the parish minister.
The assistant's preaching of Arminian rather than Calvinist doctrines led ten members by 1747 to charge the Congregational Church with breach of covenant, causing them to be forbidden to come to communion or take part in the action of the church. Some of the "aggrieved brethren," failing to receive satisfaction from a council of Congregational churches called to mediate, then united with the Baptist Church of Boston. [Tilden, Baptist Church, p. 4-6] In 1752, seven men from Medfield, all members of the Second Baptist Church in Boston, were granted permission by the Boston church to hold Baptist meetings in Medfield and to grant certificates to other regular attendants of Baptist meetings.
Ebenezer Mason, Jr., Ezekiel Adams, Nathan Plimpton, John Allen, Joshua Morse, Joseph Plimpton, and John Cutler were thus excused from paying the ministerial tax that supported Medfield's (Congregational) parish church and minister. The law governing ministerial taxation, however, changed several times in the second half of the 18" century, creating continual uncertainty as to the tax status of those residents who aligned themselves with the Baptist church. [Tilden, Baptist Church, 6-9] The Baptist congregation in Medfield built its first meetinghouse in 1772 at the town center. Previously, Baptist meetings had been held in private homes, including the home of Nathan Plimpton [Tilden, Baptist Church, 7] or, by 1771, a town school building.
[Priest, 2] After purchasing land on June 19, 1772, the Baptists built a meetinghouse at 584 Main Street (1772, MHC #27), on the west side of the town center. The meetinghouse, since converted to residential use, was thirty-one feet square, with the entrance on the west side, the pulpit on the east side, and galleries on the north, west, and south sides. The Warren Association of Baptist Churches, to which the Medfield church belonged, held meetings in the Medfield meetinghouse in 1773 and 1774. By early in the Federal period (1775-1830), the population of Medfield had grown to 775. Agriculture and animal husbandry remained the mainstay of the town's economy, and a few farms included orchards and dairy operations.
The establishment, by the turn of the 19" century, of cottage industries in straw braid, bonnet manufacture, and brush-making brought greater diversification to the economy and made use of the rye growing in the Charles River meadows. There was small-scale granite quarrying in Rocky Woods at the boundary with Dedham (now Dover), and seasonal grazing of sheep and cattle in the northeastern corner of town. Though Medfield's town center remained a small cluster village during the Federal period, new residences were constructed, commercial activities were expanded, and institutional buildings were replaced or remodeled. Main Street (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 3 OMB No.
1024-0018 First Baptist Church of Medfield Medfield (Norfolk Co.), MA was improved as part of the Boston and Hartford Turnpike, and a causeway was built over the Charles River to Medway (now Millis). A new Congregational meetinghouse, now the First Parish Unitarian Church, North Street (1789, MHC #1, NR 1974), replaced a 1706 building. Some Baptists in Medfield bought pews in the Congregational meetinghouse, and nearly all attended meetings there often. [Tilden, Baptist Church, 23] By the end of the Federal period (1830), Medfield's population numbered 817, down from a peak of 892 in 1820. The Federal period brought significant developments in the history of the Baptist Church in Medfield.
Formally constituted on August 18, 1776, the First Baptist Church had ten men and nineteen women as original members, many of whom were descendants of the seven men who had started Baptist meetings in Medfield twenty-four years earlier. They included members of the Mason, Adams, Morse, Plimpton, Cutler, Cheney, Chenery, and Harding families of Medfield, as well as a slave, Grace, belonging to John Green of Medfield, who was not a member of the Medfield church. The Rev. Thomas Gair, a graduate of Rhode Island College, accepted the invitation to serve as the first pastor. Medfield historian and church member William S. Tilden, writing on the occasion of the Church's centennial in 1876, described the early period: The years prior to 1783 were the brightest in the early history of the church.
It had steadily increased in numbers, and the congregation embraced the greater part of the wealth and talent of the town. A decline commenced with the death of some of the original members. Of those who had been added, the greater part were non-residents, whose nominal connection was here indeed, but whose efforts and contributions were expended in maintaining their branch work. Out of thirty-six baptized by Mr. Gair about this time, only six were residents of this town, and only two of these were men; so ... the burdens began to fall upon a few. [Tilden, Baptist Church, 18] Disputes over doctrine in 1784 further weakened the Baptist Church, causing many members of the congregation to withdraw, some returning to the Congregational Church. The Rev. Gair resigned as pastor in 1787.
By 1805, the membership numbered only twelve resident members, and continued decline caused the members to consider a proposal to disband the Medfield church altogether and associate as a branch of the Baptist church in Attleboro. [Tilden, Baptist Church, 24; Priest, 2-3] A disagreement in a neighboring town led to resurgence in the membership of the First Baptist Church in Medfield and brought about a period of considerable expansion in the church's activities in Medfield and beyond.
In 1808, sixty so- called "Mad Baptists" from West Dedham, now Westwood, arrived in Medfield one Sunday to join the Baptist church "though they cared nothing for the doctrine preached." These individuals objected to the location selected for a new Congregational meetinghouse in their town, and sought to avoid paying their share of the costs by associating themselves with a religious society of a different denomination. A Baptist meetinghouse was later built in West Dedham (Westwood) in 1824. [Tilden, Baptist Church, 25] In 1810, the First Baptist Church in Medfield called the Rev. William Gammel to serve as its first pastor in twenty-three years. Under his pastorate, which concluded in 1823, the Baptist Church expanded its presence in the community.
The (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 4 OMB No. 1024-0018 First Baptist Church of Medfield Medfield (Norfolk Co.), MA church and congregation were incorporated in 1811 as a religious society, by special act of the legislature. The first church school in Medfield was established in 1818, a combined effort of the Baptist and Congregationalists, but split a year later into separate schools held at their respective meetinghouses. Also in 1818, forty Baptist women organized the United Baptist Female Education Society of Medfield to assist in the work of education.
[Tilden, Baptist Church, 26-28; Priest, 3-4] In 1822, the first Baptist meetinghouse on the west side of the town center, which had served the congregation for fifty years, was enlarged, nearly doubling its capacity. Among the changes were the removal of the pulpit to the west wall, establishment of a center aisle between pews, construction of an addition to the west end, and replacement of the building's original hip roof with the present gable roof. [Priest, 10; DeSorgher, 342] Between 1779 and 1843, seventy-two members of the Baptist Church in Medfield were dismissed to form eight other Baptist Churches in the area. The new churches were at Needham (1779, dissolved in 1789), Weston (1789), Sharon (1814), West Dedham (now Westwood, 1824), West Medway (1831), Needham and Dover jointly (1837, new church for Needham), and Norfolk (1843).
Offshoots of these churches were Baptist Churches in East Dedham, Framingham, South Framingham, Lexington, Natick, Norwood, Foxborough, and Waltham, making the First Baptist Church in Medfield the parent church of over one dozen Baptist Churches in Norfolk and Middlesex counties. By the end of the Federal period, a new church joined the Baptist and Congregational Churches in serving Medfield. Orthodox Trinitarian members of the First Parish (Congregational) Church split with that church in 1828 to form the Orthodox Church of Medfield. From that point onward, the old parish church was known as the First Parish Unitarian Church. The new Orthodox Church was reorganized late in the 19" century as the Second Congregational Church of Medfield, and is now known as The United Church of Christ.
All three churches undertook major construction projects at the town center in the 1830s, at the beginning of the Early Industrial period (1830-1870). As residential development in Medfield increased, fueled by expansion in the local straw goods industry and the arrival, toward the end of the period, of the railroad, the town center became increasingly important as the location of the town's principal institutions and commercial activities. In 1832, the new Orthodox Church built a meetinghouse at 486-496 Main Street (destroyed by fire in 1876), just a half block from the North Street axis dominated by the First Parish Unitarian Church. A few years later, members of the First Baptist Church decided that a new meetinghouse, in a more central location, was necessary.
[Tilden, Baptist Church, 31] The congregation acquired a building lot at the southeast corner of Main Street and South Street, two blocks east of the new Orthodox Church and more than four blocks east of the original Baptist meetinghouse. There, Jonathan Gleason, a resident builder, constructed in 1838 the new Baptist church, 438 Main Street (MHC #2, Photo #2), a Greek Revival-style edifice on a raised basement, with a pedimented gable façade and a square bell tower and steeple at the roof ridge. The following year, the Eirst Parish Unitarian Church, North Street (1789, MHC #1, NR 1974) was remodeled. Renovations there involved lowering the foundation to create a two-story building, and adding a new bell tower and steeple plus the present Greek Revival-style portico. The first Baptist meetinghouse at the western edge of the town center had served the congregation for sixty-six years.
The last service was held in the building on the last Sunday of September in 1838. Medfield historian William S. Tilden, later a member of the Baptist Church, recorded that during the last years of its existence as a meetinghouse, the building: (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet First Baptist Church of Medfield Medfield (Norfolk Co.), MA Section number 8 Page 5 was the only place in town which could be obtained in which to hold temperance or anti-slavery meetings, on account of the bitter hostility of many of our townsmen to these reforms; and even then [the meetings] were often annoyed and interrupted.
[Tilden, Reminiscences] Jonathan Gleason, who built the congregation's new church at 438 Main Street, purchased the old church building at 584 /ain Street (1772, MHC #27) and remodeled it for use as residences and a mechanics shop. Goddard and Hoisington insmiths, acquired the building in 1843. In 1910, Fred Smith, another Medfield carpenter and builder, purchased the building and converted it entirely to residential use. The building reportedly retains the original thirty-one-foot-square meeting room from the late 18" century. [Tilden, Reminiscences; DeSorgher, 342-343; Medfield directories] The new Baptist church, dedicated October 3, 1838, contained fifty pews and an upstairs gallery for the choir. Initially, only the sanctuary, or upper level, of the church was finished.
Twenty-four members joined the Baptist Church in 1841, and this "small revival" caused the congregation to finish a room in the basement for the Wednesday evening prayer meeting, previously convened in private residences throughout the town. The new church held the first Baptist church bell in Medfield, as well as the town's first church organ, which was installed in the gallery in the 1850s. [Tilden, Baptist Church, 31-33; Priest, 10] In 1893, the bell on the Baptist Church was used as the town fire alarm. In other years, the bell of the First Parish Unitarian Church was used for that purpose. [DeSorgher, 135] The Baptist Church enjoyed a surge in its membership in 1858, during the pastorate of the Rev. J. W. Lathrop. Forty-five members were added to the church that year, the largest number in any year of its existence to that time. Among them were Joseph H.
Baker, who co-owned a carriage-making business on Meetinghouse Pond off Frairy Street, and his wife, Anna; Thomas L. Barney, a storekeeper of long standing in Medfield who later set up shop across South Street from the Baptist church; John E. Bullard, a piano-forte manufacturer in Boston who started a painting and paper-hanging business in Medfield, and his wife, Sarah; and Francis D. Hamant, a descendant of one of Medfield's original thirteen settlers. [Articles of Faith; Tilden, History of Medfield, genealogies] William S. Tilden (1830-1912), and his wife, Olive, also were baptized into the Baptist Church in 1858.
A largely self- taught musician who served as choir director of the Baptist Church for over fifty years, Tilden was a professor of music, a local historian and author of the History of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts 1650-1886 (1887), and a charter member and president of the Medfield Historical Society (formed 1891). Both of his parents were members of the Baptist Church in Medfield. In 1879, Tilden represented the towns of Medfield, Needham, Dover, and Norfolk in the 9'* Norfolk County district in the Massachusetts General Court. He also served as a trustee of the Medfield Public Library, a [DeSorgher, 12, 282, 366-367; Year Book] By the time the First Baptist Church marked its centennial in 1876, the congregation had completed an extensive renovation of its Greek Revival-style building, which produced the present Victorian Gothic exterior (Photo #1).
The Victorian Gothic style was introduced to Medfield in the early 1870s, with the construction in 1872 of the first Town Hall on Main Street. Destroyed by fire in 1874 and subsequently rebuilt, the Town Hall was a high-style rendition of the (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 6 OMB No. 1024-0018 First Baptist Church of Medfield Medfield (Norfolk Co.), MA Victorian Gothic, executed in red brick with stone trim.
During the Late Industrial period (1870-1915), three churches at Medfield's town center adapted the Victorian Gothic mode to wood-frame construction: the First Baptist Church, with its renovations dating to 1874; the Orthodox Church (now The United Church of Christ), 486-496 Main Street (MHC #3), which lost its original church to fire in 1876 and rebuilt in 1877; and St. Edward's Roman Catholic Church, 458 Main ranged just over two blocks of Main Street, making the town center a focus for Medfield's institutional architecture in the Victorian Gothic style. Of the four Victorian Gothic-style institutional buildings on Main Street in the late 19" century, the First Baptist Church is the best preserved. The Town Hall burned again in 1923, and was rebuilt and subsequently remodeled (459 Main Street, 1923/1998, MHC #5).
The Orthodox Church (later known as the Second Congregational Church of Medfield and then The United Church of Christ) undertook major renovations in the late 1950s and 1991 that eliminated the Victorian Gothic façade and produced a Colonial Revival-style appearance. St. Edward's was demolished in 1985. In its centennial year, membership of the First Baptist Church numbered 139. One individual who made a significant contribution to the success of the remodeling project completed two years earlier was Deacon George Cummings. Though a member of the Baptist Church in Cambridge, Deacon Cummings (d. 1881) resided in Medfield and worshipped with the Medfield church. He contributed one-half of the $12,500 spent to remodel the building in 1874, and one-half the cost to build the church a new parsonage in 1880.
In addition to supporting the Baptist Church in Medfield, Deacon Cummings also supported the establishment and operation of the public library in Medfield. [Tilden, Baptist Church, 34; Priest, 5; Tilden, History of Medfield, 259-266] Medfield town historian Richard P. DeSorgher notes that the social life of many in late 19"-century Medfield centered on the local churches. This activity took the form of church suppers, socials, ladies' sewing groups, youth groups, and choral groups. Long-time church member William S. Tilden (see above) directed music at the church for fifty years. The first youth group, the Baptist Young People's Union, was formed in 1903, and had several active years before its dissolution, but re-organized in 1919. In 1908, the young people of the Baptist Church formed the Excelsior Literary and Society Club.
[DeSorgher, 28, 116-117, 321; Priest, 5] To counter religious, particularly anti-Catholic, prejudice in Medfield in the early 20" century, clergy from the town's Unitarian, Baptist, Congregational, and Catholic churches formed a Clergymen's Club. [DeSorgher, 18] Membership in the Baptist Church numbered 159 in 1893 and 171 in 1901. [DeSorgher, 138, 241] Continued improvements were made to the Baptist church property in the late 19" and early 20 centuries; some improvements were funded by gifts to the church. In 1890, fencing enclosing the grounds of the Baptist Church was replaced with granite curbing, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Barney. Barney (see also above) was baptized into the church in 1858. [DeSorgher, 94; Year Book] In 1905, the church made improvements to the sanctuary (Photo #s 4 and 7), then known as the audience room.
New oak pews, the gift of long-term church members Mr. and Mrs. William S. Tilden, were installed. The American Furniture Company of Boston provided these curved pews, "the lines of which are such that the use of cushions is made unnecessary." [Undated newspaper clipping (1905)] Also at that time, the church installed new carpets (no longer extant), the "unsolicited gift" of Colonel Edwin Vinald Mitchell and family. [Year Book] Mitchell, who was not a member of the Baptist congregation, was president of E. V. Mitchell Company of Medfield, the second largest straw and felt hat factory in the United States and successor to the Excelsior Straw Works in Medfield (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 7 OMB No.
1024-0018 First Baptist Church of Medfield Medfield (Norfolk Co.), MA The same year Mitchell made this gift to the First Baptist Church, he presented a cabinet organ to Medfield's Episcopal Church for placement in the newly constructed Church of the Advent, 28 Pleasant Street (1905, MHC #247). Finally, the Baptist Church completed its 1905 renovations to the sanctuary with the installation of a highly decorative tin ceiling (Photo #6), manufactured by the Pennsylvania Metal Ceiling and Roofing Company of Philadelphia. The ceiling, described in a period account as rococo in design, was considered water, fire, and dust proof. Nearly two hundred people, including three former pastors of the First Baptist Church, gathered for the rededication service held at the end of the renovation project.
[Undated newspaper clipping (1905)] During the Early Modern period (1915-1940), the First Baptist Church strengthened its role in the community, celebrated its 150" anniversary, and recovered from separate fires in the parsonage and meetinghouse. The Baptist Church in Medfield was part of the Framingham Baptist Association, formed in 1872 and comprising the Baptist Churches from fifteen area towns. In 1920, the association's 48" anniversary was observed at the Medfield church. [DeSorgher, 467] In 1916, the pastor of the church joined other Medfield clergy in an annual religious service for the graduating class of Medfield's high school.
[DeSorgher, 414] Eight years later, with the reconstruction and refurnishing of Medfield's Town House nearing completion after the latest in a series of devastating fires, graduation exercises for the high school were held in the Baptist church, located one block away. [DeSorgher, 514] The First Baptist Church celebrated its 150* anniversary in 1926, and several former pastors participated in the service marking the event. Just one year after a fire badly damaged the roof of the parsonage at 40 South Street (1881, MHC #254), the church sustained considerable damage in a fire in January 1927. While repairs were made, services were held for five Sundays at Thayer Hall in Monks' (Thayer's) Block, 481 Main Street (MHC #14) at the west corner of Main and North Streets. A Moller pipe organ was purchased, installed, and dedicated on Sunday, November 13, 1927.
[Year Book] A photograph of the front of the sanctuary, published in the church's 1931 Year Book and showing furnishings on the raised dais and the organ adjacent, demonstrates that the appearance of the sanctuary has changed little since then. The present church bell, installed in 1939, came from a church in the former Enfield, Massachusetts, one of the "drowned towns" in the Swift River Valley that were cleared and flooded to create the Quabbin Reservoir. [Priest, 10] From 1945 to 1960, the town of Medfield grew faster than any of the five towns that share its borders, nearly doubling its population. Faced-paced growth continued over the following decade, as the town's population, excluding patients and staff at the Medfield State Hospital, climbed 63% between 1960 and 1970.
[Historic Preservation Plan] The membership roll of the First Baptist Church reflected this unprecedented growth in the town. In 1957, between one-third and one-half of the membership was new to the church. [Priest, 7] From the late 1950s to the late 1960s, the congregation considered the need to expand church facilities, including the feasibility of moving to a new site. Insufficient space for the church school, which then numbered over 100 students, and lack of parking were cited as reasons for considering a move. ["Baptists seek new location."] After deciding to remain at the present Main Street site, in 1969-1970 the First Baptist Church built the Fellowship Hall and educational wing (Photo #8) onto the east side of the church.
The wing is placed unobtrusively at the northeast corner of the historic church, in the approximate location of horse sheds that once occupied the eastern edge of the lot and were removed in the early 20*h century. Architect of the wing, which was dedicated in 1971, was Arland Augustus Dirlam. Dirlam (1905-1979) traveled on an Appleton Fellowship from Harvard University (1929-1931), where he received a Master of Architecture degree in 1931. He established his first architectural practice in 1932 in Malden. (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 8 OMB No.
1024-0018 First Baptist Church of Medfield Medfield (Norfolk Co.), MA Dirlam specialized in church design, though he also worked on municipal and residential projects, particularly in Malden and Marblehead, where he resided. Over 1000 design projects, including renovations, are credited to him, among them the First Baptist Church in Belmont (MHC #72, 1935 sanctuary addition), First Congregational Church in Hopkinton (1939, MHC #188), and Plymouth Congregational Church in Framingham (1968, MHC #9). [MHC inventory; Harvard University Graduate School of Design web site] The First Baptist Church in Medfield is part of the Boston Southwest Baptist Association of The American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts, to which it has belonged since 1963.
[American Baptist Churches web site; Priest, 7] Archaeological Significance Historic archaeological resources described above have the potential to contribute important information relating to the architectural details, layout, and congregation associated with the second house of worship for Medfield's Baptist congregation. Construction features, trash pits, and general artifact finds in close proximity to the church may contribute important information relating to architectural details of the original church structure, structural changes, and the general layout of the church, outbuildings, and occupational related features on the property. Detailed analysis of the contents from occupational-related features may also contribute important, social, cultural, and economic information related to the 19"h and 20" century church congregation and by extrapolation the overall Medfield community.
Any archaeological information that might survive from the horse sheds may contribute information on 19" and early 20" century transportation methods and technologies within the Medfield community. (end) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 9 Page 1 OMB No. 1024-0018 First Baptist Church of Medfield Medfield (Norfolk Co.), MA 9. Major Bibliographical References American Baptist Churches web site, www.abc-usa.org. Articles of Faith, Church Covenant, and By-Laws of the Baptist Church in Medfield, Constituted August 18, 1776. Boston: George H. Ellis, Printer, 1882. "Baptist Church founded in 1776. Sermon preached by the pastor, Rev. Silas L. Morse." In 250" Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts. Medfield: Town of Medfield, 1901. pp.
33-45. "Baptists seek new location." February 15, 1966. [Newspaper clipping in Baptist Church file of Medfield Historical Society, no source noted] DeSorgher, Richard P. History of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts 1887-1925. Medfield: Medfield Historical Society, 1999. Dirlam, Arland Augustus. Entry at www.gsd.harvard.edu/library/special_collections (Dirlam collection of drawings at Harvard University Graduate School of Design). DiSchino, Andrew. "The Medfield Baptist Church." Unpublished manuscript (student paper filed at Medfield Historical Society). January 14, 1990. Eng, Chris. "A history of the First Baptist Church of Medfield 1776-1976." Unpublished manuscript (student paper filed at Medfield Historical Society). 1976. "First Baptist Church installs new elevator." Suburban Press. September 29, 1994.
[Newspaper clipping in Baptist Church file of Medfield Historical Society] Historic maps and atlases of Medfield (in chronological order): Plan of the Town of Medfield (Massachusetts Archives #1217). 1794. Hales, John G. Map of the Town of Medfield in the County of Norfolk. 1831. Walling, H. F. Map of the Town of Medfield. 1852. Walling, H. F. Atlas of Norfolk County. 1858. Comstock & Cline. Atlas of Norfolk County, Massachusetts. 1876. Robinson, E. Atlas of Norfolk County, Massachusetts. 1888. Walker Lithograph and Publishing Company. Atlas of the Towns of Needham, Dover, Westwood, Millis, and Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. 1909. Sanborn Map Company. Fire insurance maps of Medfield: 1898, 1903, 1911, 1922, 1933 (updated 1944 and 1954).
(continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 9 Page 2 OMB No. 1024-0018 First Baptist Church of Medfield Medfield (Norfolk Co.), MA Massachusetts Historical Commission. Inventory of Historic and Archaeological Assets of the Commonwealth. Inventory forms for Medfield, including Eirst Baptist Church, 438 Main Street, Medfield (MHC #2), prepared by The Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc. for the Medfield Historical Commission, June 1997, as amended by Ancelin Wolfe/K. K. Broomer, July 2000; also Maker Index entries for Arland A. Dirlam. --. National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Dwight-Derby House, 7 Frairy Street, Medfield. Prepared for the Friends of the Dwight-Derby House, Inc. (Kathleen Kelly Broomer, consultant).
Listed in the National Register January 2002. Reconnaissance Survey Report for Medfield. 1980. Medfield directories (in chronological order): First Resident and Business Directory of Medfield, Walpole, and Norwood. South Framingham: Union Publishing Company, 1884. Resident and Business Directory of Medfield and Walpole, 1886-1887. Needham: A. E. Foss & Co., 1886. The Medfield, Millis, and Medway Directory. Needham: Amos J. Gordon, 1914. Priest, Lisa Palson. "A history of the First Baptist Church of Medfield 1776-1976." Unpublished manuscript (Bicentennial history prepared for First Baptist Church). 1976. 325 mmemoraiand Spk: 1051-198., Medfol: Towfor hMedtreld, 197cdlrield. Medield Refections. 1 Pictorial Tidenc asioi o S. Cen. Hisdo yunt tersBayp su Chsv (8 Mtd.Boston: Pres oreseo rgd . elms, livered on the , 1876. Boston: Press of George H. Ellis, 1877. , ed.
History of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts 1650-1886. Boston: George H. Ellis, 1887 (third reprinting by Medfield Historical Society, 1991). -_ "The old Baptist meeting-house on West Main Street (The Dennis Hoisington House)." Photocopy of manuscript at Medfield Historical Society. No date. Town of Medfield Historic Preservation Plan. Town of Medfield and the Medfield Historical Commission (Kathleen Kelly Broomer, consultant). 1999. Undated newspaper clipping in Baptist Church file of Medfield Historical Society on 1905 renovations to Baptist Church in Medfield. Source likely the Dedham Transcript. [1905] Webb, Rev. Thomas M. Year Book and Church Directory of The First Baptist Church, Medfield, Mass. Medfield, 1931. (end) Eirst Baptist Church of Medfield Name of Property 10.
Geographical Data Norfolk County, Massachusetts County and State Acreage of Property less than one acre UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet) 1 19 309730 4672890 Zone Easting Northing 2. Zone Easting Northing Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.) Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.) 3. Zone Easting 4. Zone Easting - See continuation sheet Northing Northing 11. Form Prepared By name/title organization Kathleen Kelly Broomer, Preservation Consultant, with Betsy Friedberg, NR Director, MHC Massachusetts Historical Commission date July 2003 street & number_220 Morrissey Boulevard telephone (617) 727-8470 city or town.
Boston _ state _ MA _ zip code_02125 Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form: Continuation Sheets Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location. A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property. Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items) Property Owner (Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) name First Baptist Church of Medfield street & number. 438 Main Street _ telephone508-359-2285 city or town Medfield state MA _ zip code.
02025 Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O.
Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Rev. 10-90) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 10 Page 1 OMB No. 1024-0018 First Baptist Church of Medfield Medfield (Norfolk Co.), MA 10. Geographical Data Verbal Boundary Description The boundary of the nominated property is shown on the accompanying detail of the Town of Medfield assessors' map. Boundary Justification The boundary encompasses the parcel continuously associated with the church since its construction in 1838. (end) Photographs Historic Name: First Baptist Church Location: 438 Main Street, Medfield, Massachusetts Photographer: K. K.
Broomer Date: Spring 2002 Location of Negatives: First Baptist Church, Medfield Photo # View 1 2 Main Street (north) elevation. View SW. South Street (west) elevation. View N/NE. 3 Junction of Greek Revival-style original block (1838, center), Victorian Gothic-style façade addition (1874, right), and Colonial Revival-style education wing/Fellowship Hall (1969-1970, left). View S. 4 Sanctuary. View S/SE from gallery. 5 Stair hall adjacent to main entry. View SE. 6 Sanctuary detail of tin ceiling with cove cornice. View E. Sanctuary detail. View SE. 8 Education wing/Fellowship Hall addition, north elevation. Historic church at right. View S.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY NAME : First Baptist Church of Medfield MULTIPLE NAME: STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Norfolk DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 7/28/03 9/13/03 DATE OF PENDING LIST: 8/28/03 DATE OF 45TH DAY: 9/11/03 REFERENCE NUMBER: 03000921 REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N OTHER : REQUEST: N SAMPLE: COMMENT WAIVER: N PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: PERIOD: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: N SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: VACCEPT RETURN REJECT 9.11.03 DATE ABSTRACT/ SUMMARY COMMENTS: N N N Entered in che National Begistor RECOM./CRITERIA REVIEWER TELEPHONE DISCIPLINE DATE DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see : attached SLR Y/N first Baptist churd of medfield 438 main Street medfield, Norfolk Co., huass.
Photo: KKBroomer Neg: First Baptist Church Spring 2002 PhOtO#I-VIewSW ROll I/Neg 1o onall PAPEL Koda PAPER Kodak Pr PAPER - PAPIER PAPEL PAPE Kodak PAPER PAPER F V APR 2002 Koda PAPER ona APIER first Baptist Church of medfield 438 main Street meafilld, Norfolk Co., Mass. Photo: KKBroomer Neg: First Baptist Church Spring 2002 Puoto#2 -VieW N/NE ROll I/ Neg. 3 F V APR 2002 800280A First Baptist Church of Medfilld 438 main Street medfield, Norfolk Courty, mass. Pusto: KKBroomer Neg: First Baptist Church spling 2002 Photo#3 - detail, villos. ROll I/Neg. 17 Kodak Profe PAPER O PAPIER PAPEL APEL Kodak Profess PAPER PAPIER APEL Kodak Profes sional PAPER PAPIER ) PAPEL Kodak Professiona PAPER O PAPIER O PA Kodak Professional PAPER O PAPIER PAPEL Kodak RAPER APR :2002 91 1111 first Baptist Church of medfield 438 Street medfield, Norfolk County, mass.
Photo: KKBvoower Neg: Arst Baptist church spring 2002 Photo#4 -sauctuam, vilw s/sE Roll II/Neg. 13 8T S*ZNNNN III TE ona first Baptist church of medfilld 438 maiu Street medfilld, Norfolk county, wass. Photo: Kx Broomer Neg: First Baptist Church Spring 2002 Puoto#5-mainstairhall detail, vieust ROlLIINeg. 24 PAPER Jonal IPAPEL APER APEL Kodak Professional PAPER O PAPIER O PAPEL Kodak Professional APER PAPIER PAPEL Kodak PAPER Kodak Profession: -APER O PAPIFR first Baptist Church of medfield 438 main Street medfield, Norfolk Gounty, mass. Puoto: kxBroomer Neg: First Baptist Church Spung 2002 Phitto #6-detail, tinceiliup, viewE KOllII/Neg. 19 FVMAY 2002 95 1111 NN N-1 242 04 SO Z7ZNNNN IIII SE first Baptist church of Wedfield 438 main Street medfilla, Norfak county, mass.
Photo: KK Broomer Neg: First Baptist Churc Spring 2002 Photo*7 - sauctuarydetail, vieeüsE ROll II/ Neg-5 Kod PAPER 10° PAPER Kodak! PAPER Kodak Pro PAPER First Baptist Church of medfield 438 main Street medfield, Norfolk County, wass. Puoto: KKBroomer Neg: first Baptist Cuurch Spring 2002 Photo #B education wing (fellouship hau, views ROllI/Neg. 13 M42-L98 M42-L93 M42-192 M42-L91 M42-L88 M42 - L90 M 42-L 89 FRAIRY M42- L108 BAKER TOWN OF MEDFIELO POND M42-L139 M42-L138 TIAEY CONOECATON M42-L137 PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE MEDFIELD 21210 AVIS BOARD OF ASSESSORS AIRMAP INC. M42-L36 M42-L 37 M42-L38 GREE 24393 60. xx 13541 BROOKS TONE 9107 BUSINESS 1##(4385 156301 50- 12-40000 BNSUSTAL 2202 WOE 32000,p0 23531 TOWN DFIELD -MEDFIELO A VE.
12-40000 BUILDING 433 TETH" 11900 TOWN HALY 1150-5 1A52O BUSiNESS B,410 RU 40000 2-40000 14632 26733 32763 3572 5500 L LaN 2 199 37322 992 161 21985 41854 18GOO : 11120 M37-L131 SCALE 1"= 100 FIRST BAPTIST. CHURCH 438 MAIN STREET, MEDFIELD SHEET 43 PARCELIII 5.5 AC.. S 219% '02 33,583 408° 509. 160 170 28030 3514 1200 2188 2930 Ac- 25870 1.SAC-S 7730 1550 27000 2373 2050 53700 166 20063 SANDERS "AL 20000 O RS 20000 M37-134 78 2000g PU 77 AIQAC 12-40000 12-40000 TOWN OF MEDFIELD ASSESSORS MAP SHEET 43 - NOTE - These Maps Are Not Intended For Use In Conveyancing 20000 2738 M44 MA4-LI19 M 38 -LI RERTAS The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Historical Commission RECEIVED 2280 OUL 28 2003 NAT. REGISTER OF NATSTAL PARK SERNU CLACES July 23, 2003 Ms.
Carol Shull National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior National Park Service 1201 Eye Street, NW 8"' floor Washington, DC 20005 Dear Ms. Shull: Enclosed please find the following nomination form: First Baptist Church, Medfield (Norfolk), MA The nomination has been voted eligible by the State Review Board and has been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. The owners of the property in the Certified Local Government community of Medfield were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 60 to 90 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment.
Sincerely, setay trabery etsy Friedber National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission enclosure cc: Daniel Temple, Medfield Historical Commission aul Rhuda, Chair, Board of Selectmer athleen Kelly Broomer, Preservation Consultan Timothy Sullivan, Planning Board Chair Richard Reinemann, Medfield CLG Barbara Palson 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125 (617) 727-8470 - Fax: (617) 727-5128 www.state.ma.us/sec/mhc
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