BlockThe nomination, in full
Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.
FORM B - BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 80 BOYLSTON STREET BOSTON, MA 02116 Photo (3"x3" or 3"x5", black and white) Indicate address of property on back of photo. Staple to left side of form. Sketch Map: Draw map showing property's location in relation to nearest cross streets and/or geographical features. Indicate all butldings betweeninventorted property and nearest intersection(s). Indicate north (SEE ATTACHED MAP) UTM REFERENCE USGS QUADRANGLE SCALE 19.318600.4692350 NEWTON, MA 1:25,000 AREA FORM NO. 2091 Newton, Mass. MRA Town NEWTON (Nonantum) Address 23 Chapel Street Historic Name Evangelical Baptist Church Use: Present.
church Original church DESCRIPTION Date 1873 Source Newton Journal 10/18/1873 Style Gothic Revival Architect Charles Edward Parker Exterior Wall Fabric stone/brick Outbuf1dings none Major Alterations (with dates) Rear section added 1900-1910 Condition Good Moved no Date Acreage 33,633 sq. ft. (less than | acre) Setting Set on deep lot, close to factory which provided both parish- oners, and land for church building Recorded by Kathlyn Hatch; Peter Stott Organization Newton Historical Comm. Date Feb. 1977; April 1986 NATIONAL REGISTER CRITERIA STATEMENT (if applicable) As an important example of Victorian Gothic church architecture in Newton by a known Newton architect, and for its association with the development of the village of Nonantum, the Evangelical Baptist Church meets criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE Describe important architectural features and evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community. The Evangelical Baptist Church (originally the North Evangelical Church) was built in 1873 at a cost of $18,000. The structure is relatively uncomplicated in design and achieves its effect through the use of contrasting materials: Newton Centre stone laid in random pattern and accented with red and asphalt-dipped bricks. Its most distinctive architectural feature is the offset entrance tower, banded with courses of brick and capped by a heavy corbelled brick cornice and steep pyramidal building's main block is front-gabled and features a steep nave roof flanked by shed-roofed side aisles.
The rich surface decoration of the gable wall includes horizontal brick coursing, a round window, and a wide pointed arch outlined in brick that encompasses three smaller lancet HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE Explain the role owners played in local or state history and how the building relates to the development of the community. The North Evangelical Church was the outgrowth of the efforts of Samuel Lowry, the charitable donations and support of several old Newton Corner families (the Bacons, Trowbridges, Spears, and Bassetts), and of Thomas Dalby, the Nonatum manufacturer who donated the site. The church, at first associated with the Eliot Church in Newton Corner, is located just north of Dalby knitting mill on Chapel Street.
Born in Ireland about 1841, Lowry came to Newton in 1859 and lived with his uncle on Richardson Street, being a clerk in Turnbull's dry goods store at the corner of Washington & Winter streets (now at or near the site of Filene's). He early became interested in the people of North Village, which was then a lawless and turbulent settlement of factory operatives, Lowry's obituary explains. He began by starting a Sunday School, conducted on the Watertown side of the river, near the Aetna mills. meetings grew the permanent Sunday school for Nonantum children. The school grew into a formally organized congregation, and in 1862 a small chapel was erected of the present church. Lowry was formally ordained as pastor in 1867 and served until his death in 1884. A fire in June 1872 destroyed the chapel, and the present church was constructed the following year.
The church was dedicated October 16, 1873. After Lowry's death, the congregation changed to the Baptist denomination. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Newton Graphic Publishing Co., Beautiful Newton (c.1917), pp. 93-4. M.F. Sweetser, King's Handbook of Newton (1889), pp.157-158. Newton Journal 18 October 1873 "Charles Edward Parker," Boston Evening Transcript 28 October 1890, p. 5. "Rev. S. E. Lowry," Newton Graphic 8 March 1884, p. 1. Architects File, Fine Arts Division, Boston Public Library. 8/85 1ofl INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commmity : Newton, Mass. MRA Form No: 2091 Property Name: Evangelical Baptist Charch Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE, cont. arches.
Both the facade and entrance tower have pier buttresses, and most windows, including those of the bellfry, are Gothic-arched. The building's external appearance has been modified very little since it was first built. The main block was expanded beyond the side (south) entrance between 1900-1910, and a hip-roofed rear structure, connected by a short wing, was apparently added at this time. Both alterations blend well with the original design. The building's architect was Charles Edward Parker (1826-1890), of Auburndale, who donated his services. Born in Keene, New Hampshire, Parker developed a substantial reputation by the time he designed the North Village church. In the late 1850s he designed three buildings for Amherst College, and later town and city halls in Easthampton and Chicopee.
In Newton he designed the Auburndale Congregational Church (1857), the first Eliot Church at Newton Corner (1859), and the 1881 chapel of the Church of the Messiah in Auburndale. Staple to Inventory form at bottom ,17-81) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number For NPS use only received 7/23/86 date entered Page Multiple Resource Area Thematic Group Name State Newton MRA Middlesex County, MA Nomination/Type of Review 41. Dupee Estate 42. Elliott, Charles D., House 43. Eminence, The 44. Estabrook, Rufus, House 45. Evangelical Baptist Church 46. Farquhar, Samuel, House ... 47. Fenno, John A., House 48. First Unitarian Church 49. Fuller, Capt. Edward, Farm 50.
Gane, Henry, House - Entered in the sationa beciron fieeer Date/Signature delurBzun 906 Attest Interod in the Mationa1 ReglatezfReeper AeluneBzen 51466 Attest fKeeper Entered in the National Register AelraAzen 914106 Attest Entered in the Netionz1 Register Akeeper Almatgan sttin Entered In the National Register Attest fKeeper Aulmußguo 9/4116 Intered in the Natlonal Register Attest f'Keeper deleßgen 91116 Intored in the Netional Register Entered in tho Mational Register Attest jukeeper Attest f Keeper Aeloußru 91466 AelouByen 9l4n Intered in t3o Mational Begister Attest f-Keeper Aelareßge 91406 Iuter Mat': Attest Keeper Attest WeloreaBgun 9/4/86 WASO Form - 177 ("R" June 1984) 86001796 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET Evangelical Baptist Church (Newton MRA) Middlesex County MASSACHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: Reviewer's comments: -sample request Entered in the Mationel Register JUL 23 1986 Working No.
Fed. Reg. Date: 23/87 8/21/86-5/6/86 Action: ACCEPT - 9-4-86 -RETURN _REJECT. Federal Agency: - -appeal LNR decision Recom./Criteria Reviewer. Discipline. Date see continuation sheet Nomination returned for: _ technical corrections cited below _ substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification Category Ownership Public Acquisition 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? yes no 7. Description Condition excellent good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one unaltered altered Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates - boundary selection Status Accessible Present Use Check one _ original site moved date 8.
Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Builder/Architect Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance J justification of exception J other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name_ UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national state _local State Historic Preservation Officer signature title date 13.
Other - Maps Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to - Signed - Date Phone: GPO 918-450 Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet Newton, Mass. MRA 23 Chapel St., Nonantum (Evangelical Baptist Church) Inv. #2091 Newton, Massi MRA 62 2-9861 35 37 CALIFORNIA 38 39 28 BRI STREET TRAVERSE 23 22 21 20 25 18 21 115 0o STREET ASSAGE MELBOURN 13 SECTION 14 BLOCK | City of Newton Assessor's Maps. Sheet 9 Metric Seríes. 1979 Scale: UTM grid line interval = 100 meters (328 feet) STREET 57 1 CHAFEL 54 NISHT 14 STREET Newton, Mass. MRA 23 Chapel St., Nonantum (Evangelical Baptist Church) 14-1-18