Nomination for First Parish Church

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Form No. 10-300 (Rev.

10-74) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PH0666351 FOR NPS USE ONLY RECEIVEO APR 3 DAIASE 1978 NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM DATE ENTERED JUL 2 1 1978 SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS TYPE ALL ENTRIES - COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS NAME HISTORIC First Parish Church AND/OR COMMON same LOCATION STREET & NUMBER sw ol Dusbt Tremont Street at Depot Street CITY, TOWN Duxoury STATE - VICINITY OF CODE _NOT FOR PUBLICATION CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 12th COUNTY CODE 3 Massachusetts CLASSIFICATION 025 Plymouth 023 CATEGORY DISTRICT *BUILDING(S) _STRUCTURE _SITE _OBJECT OWNERSHIP _PUBLIC XPRIVATE _BOTH PUBLIC ACQUISITION - IN PROCESS - BEING CONSIDERED STATUS X OCCUPIED -UNOCCUPIED _WORK IN PROGRESS ACCESSIBLE -YES: RESTRICTED _YES: UNRESTRICTED *-_NO PRESENT USE _AGRICULTURE MUSEUM _COMMERCIAL _PARK _EDUCATIONAL PRIVATE RESIDENCE -ENTERTAINMENT XRELIGIOUS _GOVERNMENT -SCIENTIFIC _INDUSTRIAL -TRANSPORTATION MILITARY _OTHER: OWNER OF PROPERTY NAME First Parish of Duxbury, Unitarian-Universalist STREET & NUMBER Tremont Street CITY.

TOWN STATE Duxbury - VICINITY OF 5 LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION Plymouth County Registry of Deeds Massachusetts 02332 COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC. STREET & NUMBER Russell Street CITY, TOWN STATE Plymouth REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE Inventory of Historic Assets of the Commonwealth Massachusetts DATE 1976 DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS Massachusetts Historical Commission CITY. TOWN _FEDERAL XSTATE COUNTY _LOCAL STATE Boston Massachusetts 7-DESCRIPTION CONDITION XEXCELLENT _GOOD -FAIR _DETERIORATED _RUINS _UNEXPOSED CHECK ONE -UNALTERED X ALTERED CHECK ONE X_ORIGINAL SITE _MOVED DATE DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Description of the property

First Parish Church is located on Tremont Street and sited back from the road on a small rise. To the south of the church is the Mayflower Cemetery; to the north are the old town offices and the new town office building. The surrounding area is heavily wooded and maintained as a conservation area by the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society. The rectangular plan church is 86' deep, 66' wide with sidewalls 30' high. The steeple is 127' high. The gable of the ridge roof faces east towards the street, and the roof- line is defined by an encircling entablature. and is sheathed in matched board. Bays are defined by the simple wide pilasters. The three central bays contain entrances on the first level. Above these are 12 light sash. An oculus occupies the center of the gable pediment. entablaturdestned " Level.

Ab The five bay wide facade faces east A 3 stage tower rises from the ridge of the roof, set back slightly from the facade. The first stage is 2 telescoping matched board sections, capped on all 4 sides by a shallow triangular pediment. Above this is the second stage which contains the bell. This stage is framed by paired engaged columns and flat pilasters at the corners and topped by an entablature. Above this is an octagonal drum, with small windows on each elevation. The drum steps in to the spire. The side elevations are 4 bays deep and sheathed in clapboards. Long multi-light windows light the interior. The vast interior has no supporting columns due to its inverted framing. The pristine auditorium is bathed in light and furnished with white wainscotted box pews with mahogany rails. Attached to the church on the north is a large ell-shaped parish house built in 1958.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD PREHISTORIC -1400-1499 -1500-1599 - 1600-1699 -1700-1799 X1800-1899 -1900- AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW _ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC _COMMUNITY PLANNING -LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC -CONSERVATION -LAW AGRICULTURE ECONOMICS _LITERATURE X ARCHITECTURE _EDUCATION _MILITARY ART _ENGINEERING _MUSIC COMMERCE -EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT _PHILOSOPHY -COMMUNICATIONS -INDUSTRY POLITICS/GOVERNMENT -INVENTION XRELIGION SCIENCE SCULPTURE -SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN _THEATER -TRANSPORTATION -OTHER (SPECIFY) SPECIFIC DATES 1840 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE BUILDER

Statement of significance

/ARCHITECT First Parish Church is significant for its architecture and for its role in the history of Duxbury. The First Church or Meeting House in Duxbury was organized in 1632, signaling the permanence of what had previously been a temporary settlement. With this event, the settlers of the community no longer returned to Plymouth for Sunday services or the winter. The congregation was gathered by Elder William Brewster. Though Brewster was not an ordained minister, he assisted the new group for five years. The first meetinghouse was located on a corner of the old burying ground. The present structure is the fourth meetinghouse of this congregation and the third on this site. It was built in 1840 of native Duxbury pine and was designed to seat one thousand. The refined architecture, grand size, and handsome finish represent its association with the height of Duxbury's sea-faring wealth.

In the Meeting-House bell tower hangs the 1819 town bell for which the town contracted with the Revere Company who sub-contracted the bell to a former Revere apprentice, George Handel Holbrook. During the great Unitarian-Trinitarian split in New England, this congregation became Unitarian. The congregation merged with the Universalist Church in 1961.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Records of the First Parish Church Bradford; Gershom, History of the First Parish Church of Duxbury, Duxbury: The Women's Alliance of Duxbury, 1953. Bradford; Gershom, Notes on the First Parish Church Bell, Duxbury, 1954. 10 GEOGRAPHICAL DATA ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY _ UTM REFERENCES 34 acres AL91 ZONE 315,919,0,01 EASTING 14,615,418,2,01 NORTHING il,lu VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION ZONE EASTNG DULLILLL Lil,LuL NORTHING LLu LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES STATE CODE COUNTY CODE STATE CODE COUNTY CODE 11 FORM PREPARED BY NAME / TITLE Joseph R. Orfant, National Register Editor, & William B.

Nash ORGANIZATION Massachusetts Historical Commission STREET & NUMBER 294 Washington Street CITY OR TOWN Bost on 28 February 1978 TELEPHONE 617-727-8470 STATE Massachusetts 02108 STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS: NATIONAL - STATE- LOCAL As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665). I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forth bythe National Park Service. Deputy STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER SIGNATURE Patuu LWestowski 3/23/78 TITLE Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Commissionate Acting FOR NPS USE ONLY I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS PROPERTY IS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER DATE 72178 .

OFFICE OF ARCHEOLOGY AND HIST ESERVATION( ATTEST DATE 629.78 KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER GPO 892-453 Property First Parich Church State Mass. Working Number 4.3.78.2843 TECHNICAL Scepuature Photos _ Maps Nenk stint. o siginficance, bet eligible fn auch. Plymooth CONTROL OK- T4.6.28 HISTORIAN accpat 5/24/78 tr touner ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN acrept Bravkam 5.15.78 ARCHEOLOGIST OTHER HAER Inventory- Review _ romination corld be more srougu REVIEW UNIT CHIEF voroled, but siquificouce is there Accept Leborich I world like vbo, bust ttz i adequate in conjimatin with 6/12/78 fo teir prorpose. BRANCH CHIEF KEEPER National Register Write-up Federal Register Entry 9.5.78 Send-back Re-submit United States Department of the Interior National Park Service WASO No. 7 Entered JUL 21 1978 INT:2106-74 First Parish Church Duxbury, MA. 1976 JUL 21 1978 F.T.

Potter Duxbury Historical Commission Town Offices Duxbury, MA. Plymouth Courty APR 3 1978 Photo #1 o1 Looking north west towards the facade of the church and the Parish House PROPERTY OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER STATE MASSACHUSETTS Date Entered JUL 21 1978 Name Half Way House First Parish Church Capron House Newell Farm Locke, Capt. Benjamin, House Hawthorne Class Studio Thayer Public Library Location Chatham Barnstable County Duxbury vicinity Plymouth County Attleboro Bristol County West Newbury Essex County Arlington Middlesex County Provincetown Barnstable County Braintree Norfolk County Al80 Notified Honorable Edward W. Brooke Honorable Edward M. Kennedy Honorable Gerry E. Studds Honorable Margaret M. Heckler Honorable Michael J. Harrington Honorable Thomas P. O'Neill, JI. Honorable James A. Burke State Historic Preservation Officer Mrs. Patricia L.

Weslowski Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Comnission 294 Washington Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 NR Byers/bjr 7/25/78 PH0666351 NATIONAL REGISTER DATA SHEET ONAME as appears on federal register: 2OTHER NAMES: First Parish Church 6 LOCATION street & number city / town SW of Duxbury at Tremont and Depot Sts. vicinity of Duxbury state MA 3)date of entry: JUL 21 1978 GNPS REGION: NA OWNER XPRIVATE OOSTATE - MUNICIPAL EXISTING SURVEYS -HABS OHAER -NHL COUNTY OMULTIPLE FUNDED? OYES - FEDERAL (agency name) -NO 1)CONGRESS.

DISTRICT 12th 2)SOURCE of NOMINATION county Plymouth BADMINISTRATOR: X STATE - FEDERAL county code: 23 IIYESMAME ®CONDITION Dexcellent Ogood Ofair - deteriorated Oruins Dunexposed Ounexcavated Oaltered Ooriginal site Ounaltered Omoved Oreconstructed Ounknown Dexcavated SACCESS OYES -Restricted [YES - Unrestricted - No Access -AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE : CARCHEOLOGY - prehistoric-2| - COMMERCE-6 -ARCHEOLOGY-historic-1 - COMMUNICATIONS-7 DAGRICULTURE -3 - CONSERVATION- 8 - ARCHITECTURE-4 - ECONOMICS- 9 - ART-5 - EDUCATION-10 DENGINEERING-11 -ENTERTAINMENT-26 -EXPLORATION -12 -HEALTH-27 - INDUSTRY- 13 - INVENTION -14 17features: *OSUBSTANTIALLY INTACT-1 2ONOT INTACT-O SOUNKNOWN-4 3O NOT APPLICABLE -7 - Unknown (19) ADAPTIVE USE OYES UNO SAVED?

DYES - LANDSCAPE ARCH.-15 - POLITICS/ GOVT." 21) -RECREATION -28 - LAW-16 - RELIGION- 22 - SETTLEMENT-29| - LITERATURE - 17 - SCIENCE - 23 -URBAN PLANNING-31 - MILITARY- 18 - SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN-24 - OTHER (SPECIFY) - MUSIC - 19 - SOCIAL / CULTURAL- 30 - PHILOSOPHY - 20 - TRANSPORTATION-25 ICREAGE SHPO WnO red form? ULOCAL staff -PRIVATE ORGAVIZATION -OSUBSTANTIALLY INTACT - 2 2CSUBSTANTIALLY INTACT -3 ED NOT INTACT-O SOUNKNOWN-5 2ONOT INTACT -O 5OUNKNOWN-6 JONOT APPLICABLE-8 ZONOT APPLICABLE - 9 IS PROPERTY A HISTORIC DISTRICT?

Dyes Ono -CLAIMS: explain "Tirst'O 'oldest' O 'only' 0 (33) functions WHEN HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT: CURRENTLY: architectural style(s): @dates of initial construction: major alterations: historic events: ETHNIC GROUP ASSOCIATION architect: master builder: engineer: -landseape architect / garden designer: ") interior decorator: artist: artisan: )builder/contractor: NAMES give role & date PERSONAL: EVENTS: INSTITUTIONAL: NATIONAL REGISTER WRITE-UP reviewers initials. date! IF ADDITIONAL SPACE NEEDED, NUMBER & PUT ON REVERSE