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: # Pawtucket Congregational Church - 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 7 Page 1 OMB No.
1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA 7. Description The Pawtucket Congregational Church, 15 Mammoth Road, Lowell (1898-1899, MHC #790, see photos) is a prominently sited and architecturally significant church of Victorian eclectic design, retaining notable opalescent stained glass windows, a well preserved two-manual organ, and a Revere bell, all original to the building. Situated on the northern bank of the Merrimack River overlooking the Pawtucket Falls, the church is located in the Pawtucketville neighborhood in the northern section of the city, annexed in 1874 from the neighboring town of Dracut. The church property occupies the northern corner of the Mammoth Road intersection with Riverside Street, at the head of the Pawtucket Bridge over the falls; this bridge connects Pawtucketville with Lowell's historic industrial center.
The immediate neighborhood displays a mix of residential and small-scale commercial development. The church yard (MHC #991, photo 4), which has frontage on Mammoth Road and Riverside Street, is partially located within the boundary of the Lowell National Historic Park (NRDIS 1978). Bordering the church yard at the street edges is a very simple iron picket fence (ca. 1900?). Situated in the south corner of the church yard is a standing sign (ca. 1990s) oriented toward the Mammoth Road-Riverside Street intersection. The remaining components of the property are located outside the boundary of the Lowell National Historic Park.
In addition to the church, these include a detached concrete block shed (early 20"" cent., photo #5) adjacent to the rear wall of the church, and a stone retaining wall (1850, photo 8) that was constructed in connection with improvements to the meetinghouse that originally occupied the property. The stone retaining wall runs along a portion of the Mammoth Road frontage, starting at the western corner and extending south as far as the Mammoth Road entry on the church tower. A break in the retaining wall allows access to the parking area at the western end of the church property. The retaining wall is topped with an iron picket fence that appears to be contemporary with the picket fence enclosing the church yard The church is a red brick building, one story on a raised basement of granite block, with a slate roof and a wood cornice.
The double-height sanctuary space (photos 1, 4, and 6) is roughly square in massing, having a broad cross-gable roof and a two-story square tower with octagonal spire anchoring the southern corner. A one-story, side-gabled lateral wing (photos 1 and 2) contains the chapel immediately adjacent to the sanctuary, and the ladies' parlor marked by a cross gable at the western end. This wing has an interior end wall brick chimney on the west elevation (at the ladies' parlor) and a larger brick chimney behind the roof ridge. The church has four public entrances. The two at the base of the tower (photos 3 and 4) are approached by way of granite stairs from Mammoth Road and the church yard, respectively.
Two other entrances are shielded by gable-front projecting porches: one on the Mammoth Road elevation, at the vestibule adjoining the sanctuary and chapel (photos 1 and 8); and the other on the church yard elevation (photo 6). The Mammoth Road entrance, which currently serves as the principal entry to the church, is approached by way of granite stairs from the street, while the church yard entry is located at grade. Pawtucket Congregational Church exhibits a fusion of Romanesque Revival and Queen Anne-style ornamental details. Round-arched surrounds frame all openings on the tower, as well as those containing the three largest stained glass windows: two in the sanctuary, and one in the ladies' parlor (see below for description of stained glass). The arched heads of these openings are executed in pressed brick (photos 1-6).
Granite is used for all window sills, the lintels on the church's smaller rectangular windows, the caps of the buttresses on the Mammoth Road side of the sanctuary (photo 1), (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 7 Page 2 OMB No. 1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA and the belt courses, corbelling, and coping seen on the tower (photo 3). The square tower features brick corner piers, wood louvers in the paired openings of the bell tower, and a granite plaque over the Mammoth Road entry that reads "Pawtucket Cong. Church 1797-1898." The tower entry contains paired paneled doors and stained glass in the round- arched transoms above.
The wood-frame projecting porches (photos 6 and 8) are typically Queen Anne in their styling Each features a broad front gable infilled with board and batten siding, overhanging eaves, bargeboards in the gable end, and decorative round-arch brackets between posts. The porches have bead board ceilings. Interior The interior of the Pawtucket Congregational Church is in very good condition and retains its historic integrity. The double-height sanctuary space (photo 9) is roughly square in massing. At the front of the space (rear wall of the church) are the chancel, with pulpit and lectern, and the organ (see below), which is set beneath a double-height arched surround. In the front left corner of the sanctuary is the choir loft (photo 9), separated from the main space by an oak railing with turned balusters.
The front right corner has an interior doorway leading to the pastor's office, the entry porch on the church yard elevation (see above), and a stair hall to the basement. At the rear right corner of the sanctuary (photo 11) are two double-door entries to the tower. The tower vestibule, which is currently closed to the public, provides access to the bell tower by way of a steep narrow staircase. The rear left corner of the sanctuary (photo 12) has an interior doorway opening onto a vestibule at the entry porch on the Mammoth Road elevation of the church. The sanctuary, which seats approximately five hundred people, has two distinctive design features: exposed steel trusses supporting the vaulted ceiling (photos 9-12), and a sloped floor that allows for clear views of the chancel from all pews (photos 9 and 12). The ceiling is clad with acoustical tiles and plaster.
Walls are plaster with vertical board wainscoting. All interior woodwork is oak, including the pews, which are arranged in three sections curving slightly toward the chancel, yielding two inner aisles and two outer aisles. On the left (west) wall of the sanctuary, a bank of six sliding doors (photos 12 and 15) divides the sanctuary from the adjacent chapel; opening these doors allows for overflow seating in the chapel. The oak doors are paneled, and have pebbled glass in the transoms above. While the chapel has the plaster walls and oak wainscoting and trim of the sanctuary, the vaulted ceiling of the chapel features trusses that are boxed in wood (photos 13 and 14) rather than exposed.
In addition to the bank of sliding doors on the east wall, the chapel includes two pairs of paneled sliding pocket doors on the west wall: one opening onto the ladies' parlor, and the other opening onto another room at the northwest corner of the church building. There is no fixed seating in the chapel, which allows for flexible arrangements of chairs and tables to suit the needs of the congregation. The ladies' parlor (photo 16) is a formal space and reception area. The fireplace on the west wall displays elaborate carving on the wood mantel and over-mantel. The ladies' parlor has a plastered vaulted ceiling, plaster walls, and matchboard wainscoting. Paneled oak pocket doors open onto the chapel (see above) and another room at the rear left corner of the building, now used as a kitchen area.
Furniture in the ladies' parlor includes pieces dating to the construction of the present church (1897-1898) as well as pieces from the meetinghouse previously on the property. (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 7 Page 3 OMB No. 1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA On the basement level of the church are additional meeting spaces and utility rooms. Access to the basement is by way of stair cases in the Mammoth Road vestibule (currently the church's principal entrance) and from the church yard. Both entrances are marked on the exterior by the projecting porches. Most windows in the basement contain wood sash, either a double-hung, 2/2 configuration or hopper sash.
Stained Glass All stained glass windows in the church are plated American opalescent-style windows, designed and fabricated by Redding, Baird and Company of Boston. The sanctuary features two double-height windows, each approximately fourteen feet wide and twenty-two feet high, with a row of four smaller windows below. On the Mammoth Road elevation is The Good Shepherd (photos 1, 10, and 17), illustrating Jesus carrying the lost sheep in a richly detailed landscape. The window is also known as the Mother's Window; centered beneath this window is a marble memorial plaque inscribed with the names of mothers who lost children.
The smaller memorial windows, on the same level as the plaque, depict Biblical images (from left to right): a cluster of golden fig blossoms (Parable of the Fig Tree), clusters of purple grapes (Parable of the Vine and the Branches), the Ark of the Covenant, and a white dove (coming of the Holy Spirit). On the church yard elevation, facing the Pawtucket Falls, is He is Risen (photos 4, 6, and 18), illustrating Mary Magdalene and the two other women greeted by an angel at the mouth of the empty tomb of Jesus on the first Easter morning. The Biblical images depicted in the four smaller windows beneath are a red cross with jeweled yellow points; water flowing from a rock; an open Bible with a lamb resting on it; and a golden crown with multi-colored jewels. Two smaller windows in the choir loft make reference to Joy.
In the tower vestibule outside the sanctuary, stained glass also appears in the round-arched transoms over the two entrances. Both windows illustrate a dove descending and light radiating downward from the dove. The transom over the Mammoth Road entrance (photos 1 and 3) includes the symbol for Alpha, i.e., the beginning. The transom over the entrance facing the church yard and Pawtucket Falls (photos 1 and 6) includes the symbol for Omega, i.e., the end. There is a smaller stained glass window in the tower (north wall, photo 4) that is not inscribed or dedicated to a particular person. [Thurlow] Additional stained glass windows appear in the ladies' parlor and the chapel. In the ladies' parlor is the third large window in the church, donated by Christian Endeavor, the congregation's young people's organization in 1898.
This window, located on the Mammoth Road elevation (photos 2, 12, and 19), depicts in the center panel the head of Christ: above is the text In My Father's House Are Many Mansions. A symbol containing the letters CE for Christian Endeavor appears in two places on this window. In the chapel, three smaller windows on the Mammoth Road elevation (photo 2) depict (from left to right in the chapel): the head and shoulders of a knight in armor (in memory of Col. James Varnum); the face of an angel as a child, gazing into the distance; and an image of the Holy Bible. Two windows on the rear wall of the chapel (photo 14) illustrate a crown with jewels, in the left window, and lilies, in the right window. [Thurlow] Some smaller stained glass windows in the church have intricate multi-colored designs but bear no picture or inscription.
These include two windows flanking the fire place in the ladies' parlor, the window in the tower vestibule (see above), a window in the porch entry hall on Mammoth Road, and a window in the room at the left rear corner of the building, near the ladies' parlor, which is now used as a kitchen area. [Thurlow] (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 7 Page OMB No. 1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA Organ The organ (photos 9 and 20) at Pawtucket Congregational Church is original to the church. Details of the organ's design and condition, recorded in 2005 by Jonathan R. Ross of the Andover Organ Company, are excerpted here.
Built by James Cole of Boston, the organ is a well preserved example of a medium two-manual organ of its period, having undergone no major revisions since its installation in 1899. The organ is an excellent example of the style and building methods of the Boston organ-builders in the 1890s. Tonally, it shows a transition to a darker, more fundamental sound while not being in the symphonic school that would soon emerge. Ihe voicing leans toward a smoother sound, with a decidedly slower attack and more muted colors, than is typically seen on an organ of this size throughout the 19* century. The reeds are darker and more complex than the bright and open chorus reeds of the mid-19" century. The flutes are heavily nicked for a smooth articulation to the speech and do not ascend in volume and tone as one goes up the keyboard, as earlier flutes had.
The string stops have also taken on a new character, much more delicate and softer in volume while at the same time being smaller scaled and keener with regard to their timbre. The character of the organ remains unaltered from when it was installed by Cole. The only changes involve the addition of an electric blower and the removal of the feeders for hand-pumping. [Ross, Andover Organ Company, R-422] The Andover Organ Company recently releathered the reservoir and cleaned and regulated the reed stops. Bell Cast in 1822 by the Boston foundry known as Paul Revere & Son, the bell originally hung at the meetinghouse at Middlesex Village, Lowell. In 1859, the Pawtucket congregation (then known as the West Congregational Church of Dracut) purchased the bell, in connection with the sale of the Middlesex Village meetinghouse and its removal to North Chelmsford.
[Varnum, 77] The bell was installed in the present church upon its construction in 1898-1899. The bell is inscribed Revere - Boston - 1822. Archaeological Description While no ancient Native American sites are located on the church property, sites may exist. Six sites are recorded in the general area (within one mile). Environmental characteristics of the property represent locational criteria that are favorable for the presence of ancient sites. The church occupies a well-drained, level to moderately sloping riverine terrace located within 1,000 feet of the Merrimack River. In general, however, the potential for recovering significant Native American resources on the property is low.
Construction of the 1794 meetinghouse, its temporary location on a corner of the property, and construction of the existing church (1898-99) on the small lot (less than one acre) would have destroyed any Native resources that were present on the property. The presence of a retaining wall on the lot may also indicate excavation and/or grading of the lot during construction of the 1794 meetinghouse. A high potential exists for locating historic archaeological resources on the church property. Structural evidence may survive from the 1794 meetinghouse at its original site and temporary location, both located on the nominated property.
The 1794 meetinghouse was moved to a corner of the lot so it could continue to be used during construction 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 7/8 Page 5/1 OMB No. 1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA existing church. Movement of the earlier meetinghouse indicates its original location was within or near the footprint of the present church. Structural evidence may also survive from stables, barns and outbuildings associated with the 1794 meetinghouse and the existing church. Archaeological evidence of occupational-related features (trash pits, privies, wells) may also survive on the property.
Stratigraphic evidence may exist from grading and/or excavations on the property indicated by the presence of a retaining wall built in 1850. (end) 8. Statement of Significance Architect/Builder (continued) Redding, Baird and Company Cole, James Organ Company Revere, Paul & Son Narrative Statement of Significance The Pawtucket Congregational Church, 15 Mammoth Road, Lowell (1898-1899, MHC #790), is a well-preserved Victorian eclectic church and an important presence at Pawtucket Falls for over a century. The red brick and granite church is the congregation's second house of worship on the site, connecting the history of Congregational worship in Lowell with late 18"'- century settlement in the neighboring town of Dracut, of which this neighborhood was a part until 1874.
The church is additionally significant for its opalescent-style stained glass windows by Redding, Baird and Company of Boston; its two-manual organ by the James Cole Organ Company of Boston; and its bell by Revere & Son of Boston, all original to the building and exceptionally well preserved. Retaining integrity of location, design, setting materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, the Pawtucket Congregational Church meets Criteria A and C, and Criteria Consideration A, of the National Register of Historic Places at the local level. By virtue of its proximity to the Pawtucket Falls on the Merrimack River, the church yard, located at the eastern end of the church property, was included within the boundary of the Lowell National Historic Park (NRDIS) listed in 1978.
The balance of the church property, including the church itself, is located outside the boundary of the National Historic Park. See the map, included with this nomination, which details the 1978 district boundary. Lowell is a major urban industrial center located approximately 30 miles northwest of Boston. Bordered to the north by Dracut, the east by Tewksbury, the south by Chelmsford, and the west by Tyngsborough, Lowell was known originally as East Chelmsford and incorporated as a town in 1826. Lowell reached its land area through annexations from Tewksbur (1834 and 1888), Dracut (1851, 1874, and 1879), and Chelmsford (1874). In the mid-17" century, the area now known as Lowell was characterized by Native American settlements and numerous family-owned farms.
By the late 18th century, small manufacturing concerns, such as saw and grist mills, were established (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 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA The confluence of the Merrimack and Concord Rivers and associated canal systems at the heart of the city shape and define Lowell's historic industrial, commercial, and institutional core. At Pawtucket Falls on the Merrimack River, situated just above the juncture with the Concord River, the Merrimack drops more than thirty feet in less than one mile, yielding the power source for future textile production in Lowell.
[Story of an Industrial City, 16] Construction of a series of canals, particularly the Pawtucket (1796) and the Middlesex (1804), improved navigation of the Merrimack River and spurred economic development, thereby facilitating rapid industrial and commercial growth in the early 19h century. A major shift in Lowell's economic base occurred with the establishment of cotton textile manufacturing companies by merchant investors from Boston and Newburyport. This shift began in 1822 with the incorporation of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, the first of ten major companies that dominated Lowell manufacturing through the turn of the 20" century. The others were the Hamilton (1826), Appleton (1828), Lowell (1829), Middlesex (1831), Suffolk and Tremont (1832), Lawrence (1833), Boott (1836), and Massachusetts (1840) corporations.
The revolutionary character of these mills was based on Waltham precedent, in which the manufacture of cotton was carried out from start to finish in one mill. Company directors brought together, for the first time at Lowell, some of the period's most advanced ideas in the areas of power generation, industrial and transportation technology, production control, capital formation, scientific research, and social organization. Rapid industrial expansion prompted a sharp increase in population, and in just under a decade, Lowell grew from a town into a city (incorporated April 1, 1836). By 1846, these ten mills were turning out almost one million yards of cloth per week. By 1850, the mills employed more than 10,000 people.
Story of an Industrial City, 33-39] Lowell lost its dominant position in textile manufacturing in New England in the 1850s, with the emergence of coastal cities like Fall River and New Bedford,Massachusetts as major textile centers. The new steam technology freed mills from the need to locate near rivers for water power. Steam power was introduced to Lowell's manufacturing process to supplement water power, eventually surpassing water power in the city's mills by 1880. Lowell mills were idle during the Civil War, due to questions about their profitability in light of anticipated shortages of cotton. After the war the city experienced a shift from a Yankee to an immigrant work force in the mills. Irish immigrants had begun taking the place of Yankee women in the city's labor force after ca. 1845.
Trained mill girls and the corporation-run boardinghouse system were replaced after the Civil War by unskilled immigrant labor and the need for family tenements. Successive waves of immigrant groups arrived in Lowell, starting with the Irish, followed by French Canadians in the 1860s and 1870s. Greek, Polish, Italian, Swedish, Portuguese, Armenian, and Syrian immigrants arrived in the 1890s and early 20t* century. [Story of an Industrial City, 56-66] Pawtucket Congregational Church is located in Pawtucketville, which was annexed to Lowell from Dracut in 1874. This section of the city is bounded by Beaver Brook, the Merrimack River, and the present town lines of Tyngsborough and Dracut.
Richard Santerre's research on the Pawtucketville Social Club (Le Club Social de Pawtucketville) has uncovered a strong French-Canadian association with the neighborhood, recording a Franco-American population increase from twenty-five families in the 1890s to 5,000 residents in 1959. Pawtucketville, along with the Lowell neighborhood of Centralville was one of the "strongest, most homogeneous Franco-American sections of Lowell, and was more closely associated with the nearby Roman Catholic churches rather than congregational parishes such as the Pawtucket Church. (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 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA Some members of the Pawtucket congregation likely had ties to neighboring Dracut, given the church's proximity to and long association with residents in that town. The congregation's association with the present site began on January 7, 1796, when Col. James Varnum of Dracut conveyed the present church property, "lying on the easterly side of the County road near Middlesex Merrimack River Bridge," to Parker Varnum, Esq., Jonathan Varnum, and Peter Coburn, Jr., all of Dracut, members of the committee appointed by the proprietors of the West Meetinghouse. This meetinghouse location at Pawtucket Falls was deemed central and accessible, convenient for those residing in the westerly portion of Dracut and the easterly portion of Chelmsford, which became Lowell in 1826.
The "great Mammoth Road" from Boston to Concord, New Hampshire crossed the Merrimack River at this point, and was laid out through Dracut in March 1792. The toll bridge itself, which later became known as the Pawtucket Bridge, opened to travel in November 1792. In 1807, individuals using the bridge to attend meetings at the West Meetinghouse were not charged the toll; all tolls were abolished in 1861. The new meetinghouse site was located in the general area of Pawtucket Falls where the Rev. John Eliot had preached to the Pawtucket tribe from 1647 onward. In addition, Dracut's first meetinghouse (built 1711-1718, demolished) also had been located near Pawtucket Falls, on the present Varnum Avenue in Lowell.
[Varnum, 14, 37-39; Goodwin, 62] The framing for the wood-frame meetinghouse on the Varnum lot at Pawtucket Falls had been removed from its original location (1794) on land purchased from Jonathan Taylor. Framing of a meetinghouse on the Taylor lot was undertaken by parties who had opposed construction of a new meetinghouse on the "Central Line," or the surveyed geographic center of Dracut. In the late 18" century, Dracut was long and narrow in configuration, requiring substantial travel for those residing at the extreme ends. In addition, there was considerable controversy as to the proper center of the town from the standpoint of population and settlement. The Taylor lot was situated one mile west of the Central Line.
The meetinghouse subsequently built on the Central Line (1794) remained there only until 1830, after which the society associated with the building constructed the Hillside meetinghouse (1835) under the name of the Evangelical Congregational Church of Dracut, a Unitarian congregation. [Varnum, 14-39; Thurlow, n.p.; Hurd, 296] Following the establishment of its meetinghouse at Pawtucket Falls, the West Congregational Society of Dracut was incorporated June 22, 1797. Among the Society's preachers in its early years were students of the Theological Seminary in Andover, which opened in September 1808. The Church and Society changed to Presbyterianism in 1819, and until 1837 was known as the Presbyterian Church and Society in Dracut. Congregationalists and Presbyterians were alike in their doctrine and manner of worship, and differed only in their form of church government.
The change was seen as a matter of "pecuniary expediency," which allowed the Society to receive support from the Presbytery in Newburyport to procure the services of a settled minister. In 1820, Society membership increased due an influx of individuals from East Chelmsford (known as Lowell after 1826), which had been set off from the rest of Chelmsford to be associated with the church at Pawtucket Falls. The first pastor of the Society, the Rev. Reuben Sears, was installed January 31, 1821. Sufficiently strengthened, the Society returned to the Congregational denomination in 1837, but the name was not restored until an act of Legislature in 1850 established the West Congregational Church and Society in Dracut. [Varnum, 49-51, 102] The name was changed to the Pawtucket Congregational Church and Society after Lowell annexed Pawtucketville from Dracut in 1874.
(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 OMB No. 1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA Theformation and early growth of both the Pawtucket Church and the town of Dracut owed much to members of the Varnum family, and Varnum descendants remain part of the church congregation today. In 1636, Samuel Varnum sailed from England to America, settling first in Ipswich, Massachusetts, then in Chelmsford, which was incorporated as a town in 1655. Varnum acquired land on the north side of the Merrimack River about 1675, naming the place Dracut. [Varnum, 8] He is believed to have been the first European settler in the town. The town of Dracut was incorporated in 1701. A Varnum descendant, Col.
James Varnum (1747-1832), was one of the principal supporters of the Pawtucket Church, contributing liberally for its establishment and the support of preaching. According to the church's published history (1888), Varnum was a large landowner in the vicinity, and had "ample means at his disposal, which he freely used for religious purposes, although he made no public profession and belonged to no church." [Varnum, 138] He is memorialized with a stained glass window on the Mammoth Road side of the chapel. Like Col. James Varnum, Parker Varnum (1747-1824) was known as an extensive farmer and large landowner. Parker Varnum's name led the 1797 petition to the Legislature to establish the West Congregational Society of Dracut, and he was instrumental in furthering the Society in its early years. He was elected one of the deacons in 1819.
[Varnum, 135-136] The Church established a Sunday school and a Sewing Circle in 1828. The Sewing Circle, which later became known as the Female Charitable Educational Society and still later as the Ladies' Sociable, advanced the interests of the Society, including gathering funds for distribution to local charities or making repairs and improvements to the Society's buildings. The Pawtucket Temperance Guild was organized at the church in 1828; the group donated one of the stained glass windows on the Pawtucket Falls side of the present church sanctuary, located beneath the larger window, He is Risen. Other organizations established in connection with the Pawtucket Church have included the Pawtucket Local Circle of the Chautauqua Literary and ScientificCircle (1885), and the Young Peoples'Society of Christian Endeavor (1884).
The latter group donated the large stained glass window on the Mammoth Road side of the present ladies' parlor, entitled In My Father's House Are Many Mansions. The "CE" insignia that appear on this window signifies Christian Endeavor. [Varnum, 54-73; Thurlow, n.p.] Members of the society were active in anti-slavery circles in Lowell. The earliest anti-slavery meeting held by the Church occurred about 1834, under the direction of Deacon Jeremiah Varnum and others. Deacon Samuel B. Simonds was active in organizing anti-slavery meetings in Lowell, among them the meetings held in the autumn of 1834, when English philanthropist George Thompson spoke on the subject. The locally prominent African-American family of Barzillai and Dinah Lew were among the musicians in an orchestra that accompanied the singing during public worship, before the society purchased its first organ in May 1850.
According to the society's 1888 history, singing had always been accompanied by instrumental music of some kind. Musical instruments used in the society's orchestra included the violin, bass-viol, flute, clarinet, bugle, cornet, trombone, and flageolet, among others. The Lew family, which included 16 children of Barzillai and Dinah Lew, were widely known as skilled musicians. Barzillai Lew died in 1822, leaving his farm near Varnum Avenue to his sons. One son, Zadock Lew (d. 1826), played a bassoon and other wind instruments in the society's orchestra. Adrastus Lew, possibly another son, played the clarionet. [Varnum, 67-68, 94-97; "Profiles in Courage"] Two extant features of the Pawtucket Congregational Church property were improvements made in the 1850s, and predate the present church building.
Both improvements were associated with the 1794 meetinghouse that originally (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 Page OMB No. 1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA occupied the site. In 1850, the Society built the present stone retaining wall along a portion of the Mammoth Road street frontage, with funds contributed by Daniel Varnum. [Varnum, 76] The church bell was acquired in 1859 from an old meetinghouse at Middlesex Village, located on the other side of the Merrimack River. The Society's earlier bell was sold, destined for a smaller society in Maine. The bell from Middlesex Village was cast in 1822 by Paul Revere & Son of Boston, then operated by Joseph Revere, a son of the Revolution-era hero who had died in 1818.
The event surrounding the removal of the Revere bell from Middlesex Village to the Pawtucket church on December 2, 1859 coincided with the hanging of abolitionist John Brown, who had led the seizure of federal armory buildings at Harper's Ferry, Virginia six weeks earlier and was subsequently convicted of treason. The bell tolled in memory of Brown as a procession made its way to Pawtucket Square, at the southern corner of the church property. [Varnum, 76-78; "Revere bells and bellfoundries"] In 1874, the Pawtucketville section of Dracut, which included the Pawtucket Congregational Church property, was annexed to Lowell. Pawtucketville grew rapidly in the last quarter of the 19 century, as residential development and city institutions expanded into the newly annexed section. This growth reflected Lowell's population increase, from 59,485 in 1880 to 94,969 by 1900.
Electric trolley service arrived in Pawtucketville in 1890, fueling new residential construction. The Pawtucket school was built in 1884, the Lowell Textile school was opened in 1895, Lowell General Hospital was founded on Varnum Avenue, and the city opened a new grammar school on Textile Avenue in 1898. ["Pawtucketville Social Club"] When Pawtucketville was annexed to Lowell, Pawtucket Church joined five other Congregational churches in the city. Established Congregational churches were the First Congregational Church (established 1826); the Eliot Church (established 1830, formerly known as the Second Congregational Church and later as the Appleton Street Church); the John Street Church (established 1839); the Kirk Street Church (established 1845, known until 1846 as the Fourth Congregational Church); and the High Street Church (established 1846).
A later Congregational society, the Highland Congregational Church, was established in 1884. Pawtucket Congregational Church was one of four Congregational churches in Lowell that completed new church buildings in approximately the last quarter of the 19" century, and the only one not designed in a Gothic mode. Eliot Church built a High Victorian Gothic-style church in 1874. First Congregational Church completed a Victorian Gothic church in 1885. The newly established Highland Congregational Church built its first church building, also in the Victorian Gothic mode, in 1888. [Hurd, 130-136; Varnum, 144-174] In 1888, the Pawtucket society began planning the construction of the present church building. Resident membership was 100 persons, including 56 families. Average attendance at the morning service was 140, with 114 families represented.
Some individuals had to be turned away due to lack of seating. Sunday school enrollment totaled 238, with 71 in the infant class. [Varnum, 86] Construction of the present building was undertaken in 1898-1899. To allow services to continue while the new church was being built, the 1794 meetinghouse was moved to a corner of the lot. [Thurlow] The older building was demolished shortly after completion of the new church, though the stone retaining wall (1850) along a portion of the Mammoth Road frontage has been preserved. The church building was substantially completed on the exterior by February 11, 1899, when a fire caused an estimated $10,000 worth of damage. The contractor, Thomas H. Connell, had lit a fire on the floor of the space intended as the ladies' parlor to help dry out the newly applied plaster.
Drafts through the building, attributed to wind and the intense (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 OMB No. 1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA cold (-18 degrees), caused the fire to burn through the bricks into the floor beneath, and the blaze quickly spread. A newspaper account of June 14, 1899 notes that the church was nearly complete, pending the installation of the last of the stained glass windows. Interior spaces included the sanctuary, which seated five hundred, separated by sliding doors from the chapel, which seated an additional 200-250 persons. The design of the sanctuary is particularly distinctive.
It has been suggested that the exposed steel trusses at the ceiling were intended to be boxed in with wood, as they are in the adjacent chapel, but were left exposed following the fire in February 1899. The sloped floor of the sanctuary allows clear views of the chancel from all pews. At the western end of the church, on the other side of the chapel, was the ladies' parlor, featuring a vaulted ceiling, sliding doors, and a fireplace. In addition to room for utilities, the basement level incorporated spaces for a ladies kitchen, a serving room, a banquet hall seating three hundred, and a Sunday School room. [architectural plans; "Conservation Assessment," 15-18] Design of the Victorian eclectic church has been attributed to Lowell architect Warren Floyd, who designed the Railroad National Bank building, the J. C. Ayer office building, and numerous private residences in Lowell.
[MHC #790, 1980 form] Other area buildings designed by Floyd include the French Baptist Mission Church, West 6" Street, Centralville (ca. 1898, MHC #778); Kenwood Elementary School, 920 Methuen Street, Dracut (1900, MHC #29); and the Eirst Primitive Methodist Church, Gorham Street, South Lowell (ca. 1901, MHC #476). Architectural plans in the possession of the Pawtucket Congregational Church, however, show the architect as J. Merrill Brown. Further research is needed to determine the extent of Warren Floyd's involvement in the design of the present building. J. Merrill Brown was born in 1853 in Conway, Massachusetts, and studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He worked for the celebrated Boston-based firms of Henry Hobson Richardson and Peabody & Stearns before starting his own practice in 1882.
Brown designed many houses in the greater Boston area, including a number of Queen Anne-style houses in Cambridge in the 1880s. His other works included a Methodist church in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood (1889); the Free Public Library, Rochester (1891-1892, demolished?); Town Hall, Main Street, Swansea (1891, MHC #67); the Eirst Parish Church, 147 High Street, Medford (1894); business blocks in Fall River and New Bedford; and grammar schools in Newton and Woburn. Brown resided in Arlington, Massachusetts. [BPL Boston Architecture Index; Clarke; MHC MACRIS index] Redding, Baird and Company of Franklin Street, Boston, designed and fabricated the church's opalescent-style stained glass windows. The windows were installed during the final stages of the church's construction, in the spring of 1899. All the stained glass was restored between 1993 and 2004.
The opalescent style was invented in the late 19"* century and first patented in 1880 by American muralist and art critic John LaFarge. LaFarge's friend, Louis Comfort Tiffany, filed a similar patent in 1881. The technique of producing opalescent glass involved manipulating the glass itself to achieve the desired artistic effects, rather than simply painting on glass. Irregularly made opalescent glass could suggest highlights and shadows, mute bright light, and create complimentary tones to adjacent colors. Opalescent glass could have multiple colors mixed in the same sheet. Experiments in opalescent glass produced confetti glass, streamer glass, ridged glass, drapery glass, and thick, faceted glass nuggets and chunks.
["American Opalescent Glass," SGAA] Stained glass at the Pawtucket Congregational Church consists of the three large stained glass windows (The Good Shepherd and He is Risen in the sanctuary, and the In My Father's House/Christian Endeavor window in the ladies' parlor), plus twenty-two smaller windows. The high quality and detail of Redding, Baird's opalescent-style windows have long distinguished the Pawtucket Church. Walter S. Redding and John C. Baird established the company in 1831. According to an 1885 (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 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA account, their business in stained glass was then the largest in the United States, employing over one hundred people.
Examples of the firm's work included windows and doors for churches, halls, public and private buildings, and banks and dwellings, executed "in both the modern and medieval styles." [Leading Manufacturers and Merchants (1885), quoted in Thurlow, n.p.] The firm's windows could be found nationwide, though the principal business was concentrated in the Mid-Atlantic and New England States.
Other Redding, Baird windows identified in Massachusetts were installed at First Parish Unitarian Church, 110 Main Street, Haverhill (church 1847, MHC #1027); Housatonic Congregational Church, 1089 Main Street, Great Barrington (1893, MHC #268); Eogg Library, 1 Columbian Square, Weymouth (1897, MHC #8); the Calvinistic Congregational Church, Fitchburg (1897); Eirst Congregational Church, 34 Walnut Street, Clinton (1898, MHC #68); Eirst Parish Church, Brookline (1902); and Charles Larned Memorial Library, Main Street, Oxford (1903, MHC #106). [Thurlow; "Conservation Assessment," 14; Faith United Parish website; MHC MACRIS index] The two-manual organ, which is original to the church, was built by James Cole Company of Boston.
A detailed assessment of the organ by the Andover Organ Company, conducted in 2005, provides historical information on the Cole company, which is excerpted here: "James Cole was born in England and trained in organ-building there. He came to work for the Boston firm of Hook & Hastings in the 1880s along with fellow Englishmen Carlton Michel and the brothers Jesse and James Woodberry. This quartet would have close connections throughout their careers. In the late 1880s, they set off on their own, with Cole and Jesse Woodberry being the principals in the firm Cole & Woodberry. By the middle of the 1890s, essentially coincidental with the Pawtucket Congregational organ, Jesse Woodberry left the firm and it became simply the James Cole Company.
An interesting piece of evidence can be found in a packing slip on a panel in the bass end of the organ, which bears the label of the Cole & Woodberry firm. Obviously the change had been recent enough that the company was still using the old labels. Cole would continue in business until the early 20t* century, however his prominence declined after the turn of the century. The Pawtucket Congregational organ can be seen as being at the height of Cole's career. In terms of construction, the Pawtucket Congregational organ may be seen as conservative for the time. While not uncommon to see a purely mechanical instrument of this size in the 1890s, this form was coming to an end quickly being superseded by pneumatic or electro-pneumatic designs.
While Cole himself was amongst the leaders in this movement, this organ shows that for a medium-sized organ mechanical action was still the preferred method of construction amongst the Boston firms.... It is very possible that [certain uncharacteristic features seen in the construction of the organ] are due to the activity of a local organ consultant in Lowell named John Goodwin, as they do not appear on other Coles of the time. [TJhe name of F. I. White was found on many of the metal pipes. White was an employee of the Reading organ supply and pipe-making firm of Samuel Pierce, who had also started out in the employ of the Hooks. Pierce was extremely successful and supplied nearly all the parts needed to make an organ.
(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 Page 8 OMB No. 1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA Primarily, though, he was a pipe-maker and it is in that regard that Cole would have used him. Thus we can say that most if not all of the metal pipe-work in the organ came from the Reading shop, whereas Cole most likely built the wooden pipes himself. This was essentially standard practice amongst the Boston firms at the time and even firms such as Hook & Hastings, which had their own pipe-shops often ordered from Pierce as well. All of these features make the James Cole organ in Pawtucket Congregational Church in Lowell an important specimen.
A wonderfully preserved example with the only change being the addition of an electric blower and the removal of the feeders for hand-pumping, this organ blends features both common and exotic, giving us an excellent view of the state of organ-building in Boston in the mid- 1890s." [Ross, Andover Organ Company, R-422] According to a period newspaper account, the vote to purchase the new organ, to be made especially for the church, occurred on June 7, 1899. At that time, the organ was expected to be installed within three months. [newspaper clipping from The Lowell Sun, included in "Conservation Assessment"] Pawtucket Congregational Church is part of the United Church of Christ. United Church of Christ is a Protestant denomination formed in 1957 by the merger of the General Council of Congregational and Christian Churches with the Evangelical and Reformed Church.
Each of these two groups was established in the early 1930s. The Congregational and Christian Churches, formed in 1931, encompassed Congregational churches with roots in New England, founded by the English Pilgrims and the Puritans, and the Christian Church with origins on the American frontier. The Evangelical and Reformed Church, formed in 1934, encompassed the Reformed Church in the United States, founded by 18*'-century German and Swiss immigrants settled in Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic region, and the Evangelical Synod of North America, a 19'"-century church formed by German settlers in the Mississippi Valley. [United Church of Christ website] The Pawtucket church has hosted many community outreach programs in the last ten to fifteen years. The Family Connection, a support group for parents of young children, has operated since the early 1990s.
Others include Alcoholics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, Divorce and Its Impact on Child Development (a court-mandated counseling program), a YMCA before and after-school program, scout groups, the Church's Women's Association, a Thrift Shop, and classes for new members and confirmation candidates. In autumn 2000, the Church began, under the direction of the Pastor, the Pawtucket Living Arts Center, a free series of classes offered to the public to explore spiritual, healing gifts available through self-expression. In 2002, a Memorial Garden was dedicated in memory of loved ones. [Pawtucket Congregational Church website] Through its Windows of Faith Project in recent years, Pawtucket Congregational Church has raised funds for restoration and preservation-related repairs.
Stained glass windows in the ladies' parlor, including the In My Father's Housel Christian Endeavor window, and the chapel, as well as the small stained glass windows in the sanctuary, were restored from 1993 to 1999. The Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) awarded the Church a Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund grant in 1999-2000 to hire stained glass conservation consultants to prepare a conservation assessment and treatment recommendations for thetwo large windowsin the sanctuary, The Good Shepherd on the Mammoth Road (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 OMB No. 1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA elevation, and He is Risen on the church yard elevation, facing the Pawtucket Falls.
Restoration of both windows was completed in 2004 by Lyn Hovey Studio of Boston. Recent (2005) work on the organ, undertaken by the Andover Organ Company, entailed releathering the reservoir as well as cleaning and regulating the reed stops. Further restoration projects include sanctuary painting, and completion of the slate roof. The MHC has held a Preservation Restriction on the church building since 2000, and the Windows of Faith Project and the Church received a 2005 Massachusetts Historical Commission Preservation Award.
Archaeological Significance Historic archaeological resources described above may contribute important information related to the history of Congregational worship in Dracut and later Lowell, architectural details of 18"h century religious structures, and the local population as it developed from dispersed family-owned farms in the 17" century to urban neighborhoods in the 19th century. Additional historical research combined with archaeological survey and testing may help reconstruct the internal configuration of buildings located on the church property from 1794 to the present. Documentary and field research described above may help locate the precise location of structures associated with the 1794 meetinghouse, its temporary location and the existing church. The same research may also find that the 1794 site lacks integrity having been destroyed by the existing church construction.
Archaeological testing may also supplement the documentary record by recovering evidence of the 1794 church dimensions, construction and other architectural details. Investigations at the temporary site of the earlier meetinghouse may indicate the extent of construction required for short-term use of the church. Detailed analysis of the contents of occupational-related features may contribute important social, cultural, and economic information related to the characteristics and changes that occurred as the church congregation changed from family farms to urban neighborhoods. (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 Page OMB No. 1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA 9.
Major Bibliographical References "A Brief History." Via the Pawtucket Congregational Church website. www.pawtucketcongregationalchurch.org. 2005. "A Short Course in UCC History: The First Centuries." Via the United Church of Christ website, www.ucc.org. "American Opalescent Glass." Via The Stained Glass Association of America website, www.stainedglass.org/main_pages/sgaa/historySG. 2005. Architectural plans for the Pawtucket Congregational Church, prepared by J. Merrill Brown (undated). Collection of the Pawtucket Congregational Church, Lowell, Massachusetts. Bendroth, Peggy. "American Congregationalism: A Brief Historical Primer." Via the Congregational Library Homepage (Boston), www.14heacon.org/history_amcong. 2005. City of Boston, Boston Public Library, Fine Arts Department. Boston Architecture Index. Information on Boston architect J. Merrill Brown. Clarke, M. L., comp. and ed.
"A Brief History of the First Parish Church in Medford, Massachusetts." The Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford. www.mindspring.com/~uumedford/history. 2004. "Conservation Assessment and Treatment Recommendations for the Repair and Restoration of the Stained Glass Windows at the Pawtucket Congregational Church, Lowell, MA." Prepared by Nigel Johnson, Cohoes Design Glass Associates, Inc., Cohoes, NY. May 2000. Eno, Arthur L., Jr. Cotton was King. A History of Lowell, Massachusetts. Lowell: Lowell Historical Society, 1976. Hurd, D. Hamilton. History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Vol. II. Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Co., 1890. Goodwin, John A. "Villages at Wamesit Neck." In Cotton was King. A History of Lowell, Massachusetts. Arthur L. Eno, Jr., ed. Lowell: Lowell Historical Society, 1976, pp. 56-65. Jones, Robert O., compiler, with The SGAA Stained Glass School.
Biographical Index of Historic American Stained Glass Makers. The Stained Glass Association of America. 2002. Massachusetts Historical Commission. Inventory of Historic and Archaeological Assets of the Commonwealth. Inventory forms for Lowell, including Pawtucket Congregational Church, 15 Mammoth Road, LowelL(MHC #790), prepared by James McMorrow, Chairman of the Board of Stewardship and Finance, Pawtucket Congregational Church (April 18, 2000); earlier form prepared by Harriet S. White, DPD Architectural Survey (October 1980). (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 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA Reconnaissance Survey Report for Lowell. 1980.
"Profiles in Courage: African-Americans in Lowell." Center for Lowell History, University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Via www.library.uml.edu/clh. 2005. "Replacement Cost Estimates for Insurance Purposes of the Pawtucket Congregational Church, Lowell, Massachusetts." Prepared for the Church by Paul Connolly, J. P. Connolly Appraisal Company, Milton, Massachusetts. January 2004. Ross, Jonathan R. (project manager). "The Organ at Pawtucket Congregational Church, Lowell." Written report prepared in connection with restoration work undertaken by the Andover Organ Company. 2005. Santerre, Richard. "Seventy-five years of community spirit. Le Club Social de Pawtucketville, 1897-1972." Via www.ecommunity.uml.edu/francolowellma/socialclubs/pawtucketville.2005 Thurlow, Rev. Dr. Judith. "The Story of the Windows of Faith. Pawtucket Congregational Church, Lowell, Massachusetts." 2004. U. S.
Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Lowell. The Story of an Industrial City. A Guide to the Lowell National Historical Park and Lowell Heritage State Park. Lowell, Massachusetts. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Department of the Interior, 1992. Varnum, A. C. History of the Pawtucket Church and Society, with Reminiscences of Pastors and Founders, Sketches of Congregational Churches in Lowell, and a Brief Outline of Congregationalism. Lowell: Morning Mail Print, 1888. Zimmerman, Carl Scott. "Revere bells and bellfoundries" in Tower Bells Supersite. Via www.swbell.net/csz_st/towerbells/RevereFoundry. 2004. (end) Pawtucket Congregational Church Name of Property Middlesex County, Massachusetts County and State 10.
Geographica Data Acreage of Property - less than one acre UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet) 1 19 Zone 308810 Easting 4724430 Northing 3. Zone Easting Northing 2. Zone Easting Northing 4. Zone Easting - See continuation sheet 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.) 11. Form Prepared By name/title. Kathleen Kelly Broomer, Preservation Consultant, with Betsy Friedberg, National Register Director, MHC organization. Massachusetts Historical Commission dateFebruary, 2007 street & number220 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 additionalitems) Property Owner (Complete this item at the request ofthe SHPO or FPO.) name Pawtucket Congregational Church street& number 15 Mammoth Road - telephone city or town Lowell _ state MA _ zip code 01854 Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This informationis 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.0. 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 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 OMB No.
1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA 10. Geographical Data Verbal Boundary Description The boundary of the nominated property is shown on the accompanying detail of the City of Lowell assessors' map. Boundary Justification The boundary encompasses land continuously associated with the church since its construction in 1898-1899. The 1978 Lowell National Historic Park NRDIS boundary included a portion of the church property (see attached map) but did not include the church building itself. Portions of church property within this earlier district have been excluded from the resource count. (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 photo Page OMB No.
1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA Photographs Historic Name: Location: Photographer: Date: Pawtucket Congregational Church 15 Mammoth Road, Lowell, Massachusetts K.K. Broomer Summer 2005 Location of Negatives: Pawtucket Congregational Church Photo # 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 View View N showing Mammoth Road elevation. View NE showing ladies' parlor (center left), chapel (center right), and projecting porch at Mammoth Road entrance. Mammoth Road tower entrance, view E. Church yard elevation facing Pawtucket Falls, view NW. Church yard elevation facing Pawtucket Falls, view N showing tower entrance and porch entrance. Rear elevation of chapel with early 20*-century detached shed (right), view SW. Rear elevation of sanctuary, view SE. Mammoth Road elevation, projecting porch and 1850 retaining wall, view NW.
Sanctuary, view NE toward organ and chancel with choir loft at left. Exposed trusses in sanctuary and The Good Shepherd window on Mammoth Road elevation. View S in sanctuary (rear right corner) toward tower vestibule. 12 View W in sanctuary (rear left corner) toward Mammoth Road vestibule; sliding doors to chapel at right. 13 View N in chapel, showing boxed trusses and sliding doors to ladies' parlor (left) and current kitchen area (right). 14 View NE in chapel, showing boxed trusses and stained glass on rear wall. (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 photo Page 2 OMB No. 1024-0018 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell (Middlesex Co.), MA Photo # 15 16 17 18 19 20 View View E in chapel, showing sliding doors to sanctuary. Ladies' parlor, view W.
Sanctuary, Mammoth Road elevation, The Good Shepherd window. Sanctuary, church yard (Pawtucket Falls elevation), He Is Risen window. Ladies' parlor, Mammoth Road elevation, Christian Endeavor window. Sanctuary, rear elevation, James Cole organ. Additional color photocopied images Stained glass window: "He is Risen" Stained glass window: "Christian Endeavor" Stained glass window: "The Good Shepherd" (Taken from J.P. Connolly Appraisal Co., Insurance Report, 2004. Original photo taken by Rev. Dr. Judith Thurlow) (end) Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowel1, Massachusetts HOUSE MANSIONS Detail of "CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR" Window 1898. This window is located in the church parlor. Not as complex as the two sanctuary windows, it is made up of colored glass and held together by lead. Souerce J.P. Connolly ApproisalCo. Iusurance Report. 2004.
Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowell, Massachusetts HE SHALL GATHER TNE ABS WIITH HI CARMA YHEMO HISEO The recently restored "THE GOOD SHEPHERD" Window installed in 1898 measures 14 feet wide by 22 feet high. Photo by Rev. Dr. Judith Thurlow. Source:j.P.Connolly Appraisal Co. Insurance Report 2004 Pawtucket Congregational Church Lowel1, Massachusetts REVE MR-ANGMRS pes fp ASNASON L NEWHALL "HE IS RISEN" One of two high quality stained glass windows in the sanctuary. Photo by Rev. Dr. Judith Thurlow. source:v .P.connolly AppraisalCo.
wiscirauce Kept.2 Pawtucketvitte Congregational Church-property, howell, MA >Loweu Nationel UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY NAME: Pawtucket Congregational Church MULTIPLE NAME : STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Middlesex DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 2/08/07 3/13/07 DATE OF PENDING LIST: DATE OF 45TH DAY: REFERENCE NUMBER: 07000167 2/26/07 3/24/07 REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: OTHER: N PDIL: N PERIOD: N PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: REQUEST: N SAMPLE: N SLR.
DRAFT: N- NATIONAL: COMMENT WAIVER: N ACCEPT RETURN REJECT 3.21-07DATE ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS: N N N sared 1n the tonal Becc RECOM./CRITERIA REVIEWER DISCIPLINE TELEPHONE DATE DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N If a nomination is returned to the nominating authority, the nomination is no longer under consideration by the NPS. AcDonald's - Tiifi pawtucket coug. church 15 mauwoth Rood coweu, wass. PUOtOl :005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 0 I/ll Pawtucket cong. Church 15 mammotu Road voweu, mass. PWOO2 UGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK I/16 AUGI Pawtucket coug. church 15 mammoth Road owele, mass. PUOTO 3 005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 II|2IA Pawtucket cong. Charch 1s mammotuRoad owel, wass. PhOTO 4 AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK I/20A AUGUST pawtucket coug. church 15 mammoth Road owel, mass. PrioTo 5 05 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 200 IIlIBA Pawtucket cong.
church 15 mammoth Road loweu. mass. Puoto 6 5 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK I/22 Pawtucket cong. Church 15 mammoth Road wass. Ploto AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 I/2L Pawtucket cong. Clurch 15 mammoth Rood coweu, mass. PloTo B AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 20I II/22A Pawtucket long. church 15 lowell Road lowen, mass. Proto 9 AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK II/l rawtucket cong. Cuirch 15 mammoth Road lowele, mass. Photo 10 AK AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK II/BA 1797 BALNLEI ravotucket cong. Cluerch 15 Road wass. Puoto 1I AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK II|17A AUGUST 2005 CAK Pawtucket cong. Church 15 mammoth Road vowcu, mass. PlOTo 12 T 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK IITA AUGUST Pawtucket Cong. Cluerche 15 mammoth Rood vowele, mass. PUOTo 1B IC/ISA AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUS 547 Pawtucket cong. Church 15 mammotu Road lowele, wass.
PhOTO 14 105 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 Pawtucket cong. cuurch =mammothRoad cowcu, mass. Photo 15 AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK II/I4A AUG Pawtucket cong. Clurch 15 mammotuRoad wass. PUOT16 AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK II/IIA Pautucket cong. Church 15 mammoth Road owel, wass. Ploto17 AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK I/SA C Pawtucket cong. Church 15 maminotu Road oweu, mass. PU0To 18 IST 2005 CAK I/6A AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 200 Pawtucket cong. Church 15 mammotuRood vowcu, weass. PUOTO 19 05 CA AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK I/10A Pawtucket cong. Curch 15 mammoturoad cowel, mass. Photo 20 AUGUST 2005 CAK AUGUST 2005 CAK II/9A AUG CEIDERETIE CIACIDAN The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Historical Commission February 7, 2007 Mr. J.
Paul Loether National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior National Park Service 1201 Eye Street, NW 8th floor Washington, DC 20005 Dear Mr. Loether: Enclosed please find the following nomination form: Pawtucket Congregational Church, Lowell (Middlesex), 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 Lowell were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 60 to 90 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. Sincerely, Beteytuedheng Betsy Friedberg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission enclosure CC: Pawtucket Congregational Church Kathleen Broomer, consultant Steve Stowell, Lowell CLG coordinator William F.
Martin, Jr., Mayor, City of Lowell Debra Grossman, Lowell Historic Board Thomas Linehan, Lowell Planning Board 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125 (617) 727-8470 - Fax: (617) 727-5128 www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc
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