Nomination for First Congregational Church in Woburn

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

1898 NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form EGEIVE U NOV 2 2 1991 NATIONAL REGISTER This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual properties or districts. See instructions in Guidelines for Completing National Register Forms (National Register Bulletin 16). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the requested information. If an item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, styles, materials, and areas of significance, enter only the categories and subcategories listed in the instructions. For additional space use continuation sheets (Form 10-900a). Type all entries. 1.

Name of Property historic name The First Congregational Church in Woburn (preferred) other names/site number First Church 2. Location street & number city, town state Massachusetts 322 Main Street Woburn code 025 county Middlesex code N/A not for publication N/A vicinity 017 zip code 01801 3. Classification Ownership of Property X private public-local public-State public-Federal Category of Property Xbuilding(s) district site structure object Name of related multiple property listing: N/A Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing buildings sites 1 structures 1 objects 3 Total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register 4.

State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property J does not meet the National Register criteria. See continuation sheet Madonona Signature of certifying official Judith B. McDonough, Executive Director 111591 Date Massachusetts Historical Commission, State Historic Preservation Officer State or Federal agency and bureau In my opinion, the property does not meet the National Register criteria. See continuation sheet. Signature of commenting or other official Date State or Federal agency and bureau 5.

National Park Service Certification I, hereby, certify that this property is: Yentered in the National Register. See continuation sheet. determined eligible for the National Register. See continuation sheet. determined not eligible for the National Register. Bettf Sauge 1-6-92 removed from the National Register. other, (explain:) Jar signature of the Keeper Date of Action 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (enter categories from instructions) Religion: Religious Structure Government First Congregational Church in Woburn, Massachusetts Current Functions (enter categories from instructions) Religion: Religious Structure 7.

Description Architectural Classification (enter categories from instructions) Late Victorian: Italianate Late Victorian: Romanesque Materials (enter categories from instructions) foundation _ walls roof other _ Granite Wood Clapboard Slate Describe present and historic physical appearance. First Congregationa) Church (1859-1860) (MHC #72) occupies an irregularly shaped parcel of land on Main Street (Route 38) in downtown Woburn, immediately southeast of the intersection of Main Street and Common Street at Woburn Common. Main Street is the city's primary north-south artery. Consisting of approximately three-quarters of an acre, the property is bounded on the east by Main Street, on the south by Church Avenue, and on the north and situated very close to the property line of the church is an early 155101 20th-century bank at 6 Common Street.

Facing east, the church is set back approximately twenty-five feet from Main Street. On the front lawn north of the church is a stone block bearing the inscription "1642" This boulder is an old "horse block" used by women for mounting and dismounting carriages. Originally located at the site of the first meetinghouse of the First Congregational Church, the horse block was moved to the present site in 1885. A cast-iron fence (ca. 1860-1885) defines the property at Main street and the corner of Church Avenue. The surrounding area constitutes the historic civic and commercial core of Woburn. In addition to retail establishments, several municipal buildings are located in the vicinity. To the west and northwest are City HalT (1930) (MHC #68), a district court house, police headquarters, and the Woburn Public Library (1877). The Woburn Public Library was designed by H. H.

Richardson, and was listed individually in the National Register in 1976, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987. First Congregationa] Church, or First Church, as it is known locally, is a five-story frame structure on a raised basement with a sub-basement at the rear. Thirty-four granite columns resting on granite footings two feet square® support the structure. The slate gabled roof is intact; although some slate has been replaced in recent years. Original tongue and groove wood siding is beaded to resemble stone courses. Now painted white, the wood siding was originally stained with a dark pigmented oil to give the appearance of rusticated brownstone. A two-story, hip-roofed projection at the rear of the church has a brick chimney.

N91 301 0 [x See continuation sheet aor man United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet The First Congregational Church in Woburn, Woburn, Massachusetts Section number _ Page First Church is rectangular in massing with three fully integrated parts. The gabled main block, measuring 80 feet by 150 feet, reportedly incorporates the Jongest free-standing wood span in North America. This block, three bays wide and six bays deep, contains three levels as suggested by the fenestration pattern on the side elevations. The lower level (basement), marked by windows at grade and one entry each on the north and west (rear) elevations, contains Sunday Schoo] classrooms and two stairhalls. Above the raised basement is the double-height sanctuary.

facade (east elevation) is a nearly square steeple, which contains the church's main entrance at the base of the tower and rises 196 feet to the top of the spire. Curved bays topped with semi-domes connect the tower and the main entrance at the base of the tower and rises the main block at ground level. On the rear elevation is a two-story, hip-roofed projection containing a kitchen in the basement, the pastors study on the first floor, and the organ chamber on the second. below-grade, double-door entry on the rear elevation marks the sub-basement of the church. First Church is a fine example of Italianate-Romanesque Reviva) architecture, and exhibits various details characteristic of one or both styles. All three parts of the church--the main block, steeple, and rear projection--display buttresses, bracketed eaves, and a corbel table beneath the cornice.

The main entry surround incorporates a round-arched hood mold with corbel stops, a feature also seen on the flanking smaller entries as well as the windows at the upper level of the sanctuary. All entries contain paneled, double wood doors, with the round-arch theme repeated in the upper panels at the main entry. Also typical of the two styles are the round-arched wood tracery of the sanctuary windows and the segmental and round-arched sash el sewhere. A major ornamental feature is the five-story steeple, which displays corner buttresses rising to pinnacles above the third story. The clock tower has canted corner piers with Baroque footed surrounds, and engaged columns between Jouvered, round-arched openings. An octagonal bell tower is topped with a corbel table and octagonal spire.

The tower also features a tripartite window over the main entry and bracketed cornices with consoles on the third and fourth stories. Both bell and clock are original to the church. The bell, cast by Henry N. Hooper and Company of Boston in 1853, originally hung in an earlier Congregational church, was rehung in the present church upon its completion in the fall of 1860. The three-foot-high bell measures four feet across the bottom and twenty-two inches at the top, the same dimensions as the Liberty Bel1 in Philadelphia. Howard and Company of Boston manufactured the clock in 1860. The clock was concerted to electric power in 1950. Diamond-paned lead glass survives in round-arched windows on the facade, as as in the windows of the curved bays between steeple and main block.

The (continued) Untted States Department of the interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number - - Page _ The First Congregational Church in Woburn, Woburn, Massachusetts tympanum over the main entry contains stained glass. Most windows on the side and rear elevations contain six-over-six wood sash with rectangular panes of stained and etched glass. Due to advanced deterioration of the sash, all windows in the church contain at least one replacement pane of pebble glass. The most historically significant space on the interior is the double-height sanctuary. Balconies containing gallery seating run the length of the side (north and south) walls. The choir Joft is on the rear (east) wall. Two curving staircases at the front of the sanctuary provide interior access between the balconies and the main floor.

A solid balustrade, ornamented with round arches springing from engaged balusters, borders the balconies and the front of the sanctuary. Stained glass windows contain interior Jouvered shutters of wood. Original frescoes on the plaster walls and cover ceiling were executed by a Mr. Myers in 1860. The frescoes (subjects unknown) were painted over, most. likely during the 1913 remodeling of the sanctuary. The remodeling project encompassed improvements to the church's heating and lighting systems. About 1950, the ceiling was covered with acoustical tile. Ceiling fans were added in 1988. The organ chamber at the west end of the sanctuary is a major focus of the interior. Located at the top of a staircase and set in a large, round-archea niche, the organ is an E. & G. Hook, Opus 283, built in 1860. Rebuilt in 1913 by John D.

Brennan of Reading, Massachusetts, the organ was restored to its origina] tonal design in 1988-1989 when pipes were replaced by Bozeman-Gibson and Company Organ Builders of Deerfield, New Hampshire. The church exterior and double-height sanctuary survive intact. Some ancillary rooms have been concerted to new uses since ca. 1950. The sexton room was expanded into an adjacent room and now serves as the church office. The vestry was converted to a kindergarten and ladies' room in 1980, and the library in the basement was converted to a rest room. Many layers of white paint cover the exterior wood siding, which was last painted in 1985. then, structura) work has been completed on the steeple, some slate shingles on the roof have been replaced, and new copper flashing installed.

cast-iron fence is in fair condition--missing some of the fleur-de-lis finials on the balustrade--but retains its integrity. Largely intact and in good condition as a whole, the church remains the headquarters of parish activities. (continued) ao- man United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet The First Congregational Church in Woburn, Woburn, Massachusetts Section number _ Page _ 3 Archaeological Description While no prehistoric sites are currently recorded on the property, it is possible that sites are present. One site is recorded for the general area (within one mile) on the shore of Horn Pond.

In genera), however, potential for significant archaeological remains, either prehistoric or historic, is low, as a result of poor locational criteria for prehistoric site because hecntzcn, aickcn corstmchaod the poedatsar aenero ion (end) The First Congregational Church in woburn, Massachusetts 8. Statement of Significance

Statement of significance

Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: nationally statewide Alocally B C D Applicable National Register Criteria Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions) Architecture Community Planning Music Politics/Government Religion Period of Significance 1860-1941 Significant Dates N/A Cultural Affiliation N/A Significant Person N/A Architect/Builder Stevens, John -Tilson, D. and Són State significance of property, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above. The First Congregational Church in Woburn, Massachusetts represents over 300 years of Congregationa] religious influence in Woburn and surrounding communities.

Established in 1642, First Congregational Church is the mother church for Congregational parishes in two other sections, of modern Woburn, and at least three surrounding towns. Important for its close association with the settlement and growth of Woburn, the parish is also significant for its continuous presence in the city center. The church, the parish's sixth and last meetinghouse, is a fine example of Italianate/Romanesque Revival architecture designed by John Stevens, a prolific church architect active in the third quarter of the 19th century. For over a century, the church steeple has been a prominent local landmark. Retaining integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, the First Congregational Church in Woburn meets criteria A and C, and criteria consideration A of the National Register at the local level.

Woburn is a suburban industrial city Jocated in the upper Mystic River Valley approximately ten miles northwest of Boston. Most of the city is drained by two branches of the Mystic River: the Aberjona River in the east, on which most water-powered mills were located; and Horn Pond Brook in the west. Woburn Center, the first meetinghouse location and the city's historic institutional and commercial core, occupies a relatively flat plateau with Blueberry Mountain to the southeast, Rag Rock Hill to the northwest, and Horn Pond--the town's major body of water--to the south. Now bordered on the north by Wilmington, the east by Reading and Stoneham, the south by Winchester, and the west by Lexington and Burlington, Woburn originally comprised modern Wilmington (1733), Burlington (1799), and Winchester (1850), and a part of Stoneham.

The history of the First Congregational Church, or First Church, is closely tied to the settlement and development of Woburn. In November 1640, the First Church in Charlestown (immediately north of Boston) appointed seven men to supervise a new settlement at Charlestown Village, or the area near Horn See continuation sheet The First Congregational Church in woburn, Massachusetts 9.

The rest of the file

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

Major Bibliographical References Previous documentation on file (NPS): _preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested previously listed in the National Register previously determined eligible bythe National Register designated a National Historic Landmark recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # 10.

Geographical Data less than one acre Acreage of property UTM References A /1 9 3|2,3 10 ,6 Zone Easting 14,710,419,5,0 Northing C X See continuation sheet Primary location of additional data: X State historic preservation office Other State agency Federal agency Local government University Other Specify repository: Massachusetts Historical Commission B D Zone Easting Northing See continuation sheet Verbal Boundary Description The boundary of the nominated property is shown on the accompanying detail of the Woburn assessor's map. The lot area is 32,950 square feet. See continuation sheet Boundary Justification The boundary includes the First Congregational Church, 1642 horse block, cast-iron fence, and land historically associated with the property. See continuation sheet 11.

Form Prepared By Jeanne Sullivan, Woburn Historical Commission, with Betsy Friedberg, name/title_MHC, National Register Director and Kathleen Broomer, NR editing consultant organization - Massachusetts Historical Commission street & number 80 Boylston Street date Novembe5, 1921-8470 telephone Massachusetts city or town - Boston State _ zip code 02116 ao man United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet The First Congregational Church in Woburn, Woburn, Massachusetts Section number . 8 Page. Pond. In 1642 this settlement was set off from the mother church and incorporated as the town of "Wooburne" (Woburn). First Congregational Church in Woburn was gathered August 14/24, 1642, a month before the town's incorporation. Thomas Carter of watertown was installed as pastor of First Church in 1642.

The parishioners of First Church lacked ruling elders at the time, and feared that Carter's ordination by elders of other churches, render the Woburn church less independent. Laymen performed the ordination, which was captured in a painting by artist Albert Thompson. Only twenty-four pastors have been installed in the First Congregational Church during its nearly 350 year history. During Thomas Carter's pastorate, two meetinghouses were built. The first (1642, demolished), located on the southwestern corner of the present Common, housed the congregation for thirty years. A second, larger meetinghouse (1672, demolished ca. 1752) occupied Meeting House Hill near the junction of Main Street and Montvale Avenue east of the Common. The second meeting was enlarged twice and served the parish for seventy-six years.

The horse block (1642) on the present church property was associated with the first meetinghouse and relocated to Meeting House Hill upon completion of the second edifice. Until the early 1730s, First Church was the only house of worship in Woburn, the boundaries of which included the modern towns of Wilmington, Burlington, and Winchester. Establishment of a separate Congregationa) church in the new town at Wilmington in 1733, and the official organization of the Second Church in Woburn Precinct (later Burlington) in 1735, reduced the enrollment at First Church by forty percent. Tension between factions in the local Church led to the formation of the Third Church in Woburn in 1746, this parish rejoined the First Parish by ca. 1756. The Second Church became the First Church of Burlington upon that town's incorporation in 1799.

Until the late 18th century, only members of the First Congregational Church were permitted to vote in town meetings. For nearly two hundred years, the town of Woburn also paid the pastor's salary. In spite of reductions in the town's (and the parish's) population in the first half of the 18th century, the First Church built a new meetinghouse (ca. 1748-1752), the parish's third, on the eastern side of the Common at Main Street. The edifice burned in June 1808, prompting the construction of a fourth meetinghouse (1809, demo]ished) on Pleasant Street immediately northwest of the Common. This building was determined unsafe for occupancy and dismantled in 1840. The 1642 horse block, having outlived its intended use as a step for mounting and dismounting horses, was reportedly incorporated into the foundations of the third, fourth, and fifth (1840) meetinghouse.

(continued) aor man Untted States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet The First Congregational Church in Woburn, Woburn, Massachusetts Section number - Page2 In the 19th century, Woburn Center continued to expand along Main Street as the town's primary civic and commercial focus. The opening of the Middlesex Cana) (1803), which originaten 1n Boston and passed north-south through the town center, brought economic prosperity to the primarily agricultura) town. The Boston & Lowell Railroad opened along the Aberjona River in 1835, with a branch railroad built west to Woburn Center in 1844. Railroad construction precipitated significant changes in Woburn by mid-century, among them the abandonment of the Middlesex Cana) due to the rail competition.

Other notable changes included rapid population growth, the onset of suburban residential development, and the increasing importance of manufacturing to the local economy - Though Woburn Center remained the town's civic and commercial core, a secondary suburban center emerged at North Woburn with an industrial village at Montvale on the Aberjona River. Boot and shoemaking, previously undertaken on a smal] scale, became the dominant manufacturing industry in Woburn after ca. 1830. Production peaked in 1855, when over 880 operatives were manufacturing footwear valued at nearly $280,000. Developments at First Church mirrored Woburn's continued growth. In 1840 the parish built its fifth meetinghouse on the Pleasant Street site of the dismantled fourth meetinghouse. The Greek Revival/Italianate building later housed Woburn's Unitarian church.

Religious revivals and the town's booming population added over 760 new members to First Church between ca. 1820 and ca. 1850, despite the creation of new Congregational parishes at South Woburn (1840) and North Woburn (1849). South Congregational Church became the First Church in Winchester upon that town's incorporation in 1850. Congregations of other Protestant denominations built meetinghouses in Woburn about this time, among them the Independent Baptist Church (ca. 1849), the Second Universalist Society (1841), and the Methodist Episcopal Church (ca. 1851). In addition, the first Roman Catholic church in Woburn was built in 1853. The fifth meetinghouse had been used for only twenty years when First Congregational Church built its sixth and last meetinghouse (1859-1860) on main Street immediately southeast of the Common.

Measuring 80 feet by 150 feet without internal supports, the new church reportedly incorporates the Jongest freestanding wood span in North America. Upon completion of the sixth meetinghouse in 1860, First Church sold the fifth meetinghouse to. the Unitarian Church, which occupied the property until 1990. The Unitarian parish moved the structure back from the street and raised it, exposing the 1642 horse block embedded in the old foundation. Jotham Hill, then master builder for the Unitarian parish and a member of the First Church parish committee, secured permission from the Unitarian Church to remove the horse block to its present site in the yard of the First Congregational Church.

First Church is a major example of Italianate/Romanesque Reviva) architecture (continued) ao- mau United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet The First Congregational Church in Woburn, Woburn, Massachusetts Section number _8 Page _3 in Woburn during the Early Industrial period (1830-1870). Other important institutional buildings constructed during the same period were a Greek Revival Town Hall (ca. 1845, demolished), a three-story brick Italianate Lyceum Building (ca. 1855, demo)ished), the brick Gothic Revival St. Charles Catholic Church (1867-1869), and the Greek Revival/Italianate Unitarian church (1840, originally the fifth meetinghouse of the Congregationa] church). The origina) steeple of the Unitarian church fell in a storm many years ago and was never replaced. The building is now vacant.

First Church was designed by architect John Stevens (1823/4-1881). Stevens was born in Mont Vernon, New Hampshire. He resided in the Woburn vicinity in South Reading (now the town of Wakefield) from ca. 1847 to ca. 1879, and maintained an architectural practice in Boston from ca. 185] to 1879. Stevens was most widely known as a church architect, having executed plans for the construction or remodeling of at least 113 churches in various sections of the . In 1870, Stevens joined the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, and his obituary is included in the organization's annals of 1881. Although Stevens was known as a man of considerable ability in his time, he was left almost penniless by the depression of the late 1870s. He in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The largest Protestant church in New England at the time of its completion in 1860, First Church in Woburn may have served as a prototype for subsequent churches designed by Stevens. O1d South Congregationa] Church in Andover, of 1861, at 4] Central Street (MHC #E/H 110), also by Stevens, is remarkably similar to the Woburn church in exterior design and massing. Other known churches by Stevens include New North Church in Haverhill and a church in Rando1 ph. The architect also designed several buildings at South Reading (Wakefield), where he served as architect also designed severa) buildings at South Reading (Wakefield), where he served as architect to that town's major benefactor, Cyrus waketiela, an 1mporter and merchant. In addition to the Wakefield mansion (demolished), Stevens designed the 1868 Town Hall (burned 1950), which Mr.

Wakefield donated to the town, and a new high school at 1 Lafayette Street, ca. 1811 and 1938, (MHC #E/B352), now the Town Hall. First Church is also noted for its E. & G. G. Hook organ, built for the new church in 1860. Two brothers, Elias Hook and George G. Hook, started their organ company in Salem in 1827, relocating the firm to Boston in 183. During the next four decades E. & G. G. Hook produced over 600 instruments and gained a nationwide reputation. In 1872, Francis Hastings joined the firm, which became known as Hook and Hastings in 1881. The business survived until 1936. The organ at First Church, installed in the fall of 1860, was the 283rd instrument built by E. & G. G. Hook, and is one of nine remaining three-manua] organs produced by the original firm. Other builders and craftsmen known to have worked on the church include D.

(continued) ao- man Untted States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number _ 8 Page - 4 The First Congregational Church in Woburn, Woburn, Massachusetts Tillson and Son of Woburn, the origina) roofers, and a Mr. Myers, who executed the interior frescoes (painted over since ca. 1900). Additiona] information about Myers and the topic of the frescoes has not been located. Henry N. Hooper and Company of Boston cast the church bell in 1853. Originally hung in the parish's fifth meetinghouse, the bell was rehung in the present church upon its completion in the fall of 1860. Howard and Company of Boston manufactured and installed the clock in 1860. By 1870, the population of Woburn had reached 8,560; nearly twenty percent was of Irish birth.

Stimulated by a demand for leather during the Civil War, leather production surpassed boot and shoemaking as Woburn's primary industry. In 1865 the industry employed 554 operatives and produced Jeather valued at over $1.7 million, placing Woburn at the forefront of the tanning industry in the country. Woburn was incorporated as a city in 1888. The only change to the city's boundaries since incorporation occurred in 1895, when part of the eastern area of Woburn was annexed to Stoneham. Within the local Congregational Church, the church at Montvale, the industrial village east of Woburn Center, was established in 1892. Separation of the Montvale parish brought to five the total number of churches descendant from First Congregational Church in Woburn.

In addition, Congregational churches in Billerica (organized 1829) and Arlington (organized in 1842) were largely composed of members who transferred from First Church. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the First Congregationa] Church also served two civic functions. Woburn's fire department was established in 1851, did not have a building for storing equipment. stored temporarily in the subbasement at the rear of First Church. wood doors still mark the below-grade entry. The vehicle was kept in working order but used only in an emergency. A fire station (demolished) was later i7 mard the below-grade en try Niagara Engine No. J was Double built on Winn Street near Woburn Center. City Council met for a time in what is now known as the Anne Murray Room in the church basement. A side door to Woburn Common was added to the third bay of the north elevation to fit this use.

The present City Hal] (MHC #68), was built on an adjacent site in 1930. In August 1992, First Congregationa] Church will celebrate the 350th anniversary of its charter. The corporation is currently engaged in a campaign to raise funds for restoring the building. It is hoped that National Register designation will ensure the church's preservation. (end) =-man Untted States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet The First Congregational Church in Woburn, Woburn, Massachusetts Section number . Page _ 1 9. Major Bibliographical Reference Annals of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, 1795-1892. Boston: Rockwe)) and ChurchiJ), 1892. Boston Public Library, Fine Arts Dept., Card file of Boston architects. Cutter, E., et al. Manua) of the First Congregationa) Church, Woburn, Mass.. John L.

Parker, Middlesex County Journal Office, 1871. First Congregational Church, Woburn, Massachusetts. (booklet on organ restoration project) n.d. (1980s). First. Congregational Church, Woburn Massachusetts. The Tercentenary Program. 1942. History of the First Congregational Church, Woburn, Massachusetts. (brochure) Hurd, D. Hamilton, compiler. History of Middlesex County, Mass. Vol.I. Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1890. Maker, P. Report on the Structure of the First Congregational Church, Woburn, MA unpublished m.s, August 1987. Massachusetts Historical Commission. Woburn Reconnaissance Survey Report, 1980. Middlesex Journal clippings from 1859-1860 (provided by First Congregationa] Church). O'Doherty, Kathleen, et al. Woburn 1889-1989. One Hundred Years a City. 1989. Sewa1), Samue). The History of Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Boston, 1868. Woburn, Mass. Board of Trade.

Woburn: An Historical and Descriptive Sketch of the Town with an Outline of Its Industrial Interests. Woburn, 1885. YHT- FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 322 MAIN STREET WOBURN, MASS. TOWN OF WOBURN ASSESSORS MAP APPROX. SCALE: 1"= 100' N 1990 240 AC 692892 539276 903 CITY STREET 13.085 693368 539529 693475 939547 013 STREEL 13.080 SF 906 9,549 SF 693273 539344 340 CITY ABBOTT 40921 .48 STREET 693056 539169 903 S-I STREET 3619 692957 539034 0.930 692914 101 539000 03 4,790 $ 692906 38982 5,322 $F 693227 BENNETT 53203 5338 sF 5.115 $f 693249 <693M7 538967 013 STATE PLEASANT 9.088 -938988 I0,14 SF 693104 538668 61 5,070sF 693200 538887 7.021 SF 693301 538909 905 COURT 500059 +3885 0.126 SF 692934 53679X 813 28599 St 692952 538750 9,500 SF ^692892 6.850 SF. 6.855 SF 693089 538809 104 TEADI 11.272 SF 695|31 538777 A690 .

nó 6.020SF 693258 538762 104 6,120 24,997 SF 693432 539413 341 - PRECINCT PRECINCT 13.520 SF 693343 539276 834 HARD 3 WARD 2 38,250 SF 93367 539029 902 7A20 3F 693372 538851 J04 X.530 SF 693403 338778 104 6.570-Spr 693444 638911 IoL 893470 938075 105 13.975 S1 693507 1204 SK 538837 693465 NF X3884 V0A CLPEA $25 6855,8F 339519 325 7.881 $ 69317 50948 326 1.069 SF 693755 539439 325 29.600 SF 693633 539295 903 WOBURN COMMON 4,090 SF 2.010 569387: 69384 539461 539444385 325 693812 3.133 SF 539398 325 2501 SF 693864 -539370 5,674 SF 693835 539321 325 11,584SF 693849 539272 341 COMMON STREET CITY HALL 4.100 SF 693675 539126 34L 54,680SF 693531 539047 CITY CHUIRCH 32,950 SF 693691 539003 906 5.422 SF 693847 539196 3,310 SF 693867 539076 -325 MAIN STREET (ROUTE 38 3.000 gf 693900 539189 325 2510 Sf 693921 539089 325 88300 fence 539021 340 NIENUE 6.906 69393 53893 031 5191SF 693736 $38858 9.360 FS 693807 538884 821 3,ie Sf lok 538852 693667 538813 9,940 $ 1.056 693708 693043 538802 332 12.724 SF UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY NAME : First Congregational Church in Woburn MULTIPLE NAME : STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Middlesex DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 11/22/91 12/18/91 DATE OF PENDING LIST: 12/02/91 DATE OF 45TH DAY: 1/06/92 REFERENCE NUMBER: 91001898 NOMINATOR: STATE REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N OTHER: N REQUEST: N DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: PDIL: SAMPLE: N PERIOD: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: N SLR DRAFT: Y NATIONAL: N N N COMMENT WAIVER: N VACCEPT _RETURN _REJECT 1/6/42 DATE _REJECT ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS: RECOM.

/CBITERIA Uecep REVIEWER DISCIPLINE GreleiteturalAtis 46 22 DOCUMENTATION see attached comments see attached SLR CLASSIFICATION count _resource type STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION FUNCTION _historic _current DESCRIPTION architectural classification materials descriptive text 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 justification of exception other BIBLIOGRAPHY GEOGRAPHICAL DATA _acreage _UTMS _verbal boundary description _boundary justification ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION/PRESENTATION sketch maps USGS maps photographs presentation OTHER COMMENTS Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Phone Signed Date FIDST CONSDEGATIOVAL CHURCH 322 MAIN ST.

IVOBURN, MA. 01801 PHOTO#IOF 2 1990 PRONT (EAST) ¡ SIDE (SOUTH) ELEVATIONS PHOTOGDAPHER: MADY MCKENNA NEGATIVE: 200 BEDFORD RD. VEBURN,MA. 01801 EXI First Congregational Church 122 Main St wobum. ma Photographer: J. Sullivan rear, side elevations FIRST CONGREGATION CHURCH 322 MAIN ST. WOBURN, MA. 01801 PHOTO#2 OF 2 1990 REDR (WEST)¡ SIDE (NODTH) ELEVATIONS PHOTOSDAPHER: JANNE SULLNAN VEGATINE: 200 BEDFORD RD., APT#27E VOBURN, MA DIÃO R ECEIVE NOV 2 2 1991 NATIONAL REGISTER November 14, 199] * COMMISSIOTA * 1 Commonikati v Kery) Ms. Carol Shul] National Register of Historic Places National Park Service P.O. Box 37127 Washington, DC 20013-7127 Dear Ms. Shul): Enclosed please find the following nomination: The First Congregational Church in Woburn, 322 Main Street, Woburn (Middlesex County), Massachusetts, 01801. There have been no owner objection for the property listed above.

The nomination has been voted eligible by the State Review Board and has been signed by myself, as the State Historic Preservation Officer. Owners were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 30-75 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. No comments have been received to date. Sincerely, uditzB.M.Donong Judith B. McDonough Executive Director Massachusetts Historical Commission State Historic Preservation Officer enclosure Kathleen Kelly Broomer, Preservation Consultant Massachusetts Historical Commission, Judith B. McDonough, Executive Director, State Historic Preservation Officer 80 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 (617) 727-8470 Office of the Secretary of State, Michael J.

Connolly, Secretary DATE THU, DEC 26, 1991, 12:50 PM NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES PROPERTY REPORT Page: REFERENCE No.: 91001898 KOI ST BAOT BISTORIC PLACES PROPERTY REPORoneroL Ho.: 1 Palei 23 PROPERTY NAME: First Congregational Church in Woburn First Church OTHER NAME/ SITE No. MULTIPLE NAME: NOT APPLICABLE ADDRESS/ BOUNDARY 322 Main St.

CITY: Woburn COUNTY: Middlesex Restricted Location Information: STATE: MASSACHUSEITS Owner: PRIVATE Resource Type: BUILDING Contributing Noncontributing Buildings Sites Structures Objects Nomination/Determination Type: SINGLE RESOURCE Nominator: STATE GOVERNMENT Nominator Name: NOT APPLICABLE Federal Agency: NOT APPLICABLE NPS Park Name: NOT APPLICABLE Certification: DATE RECEIVED/PENDING NOMINATION Date: 11/22/91 Other Certification: NOT APPLICABLE Historic Functions: RELIGION GOVERNMENT Historic Subfunctions: RELIGIOUS STRUCTURE CITY HALL FIRE SIATION Current Functions: RELIGION Current Subfunctions: RELIGIOUS STRUCTURE Level of Significance: LOCAL Applicable Criteria: ARCHITECTURE/ENGINEERING Significant Person's Name: NOT APPLICABLE Criteria Considerations: RELIGIOUS PROPERTY Area of Significance: ARCHITECTURE Periods of: Significance: 1850-1874 Circa: Specific Sig.

Years: Architect/Builder/Engineer/ Designer: Stevens, John Tilson, D. and Son Other Documentation: NOI APPLICABLE HABS No. N/A Architectural ITALIANATE Styles: ROMANESQUE Describe Other Style: NOT APPLICABLE Foundation Materials: GRANITE Wall Materials: WEATHERBOARD Roof Materials: SLATE Other Materials: NONE LISTED Acreage: 0.9 UTM Zone Easting Northing Coordinates: 19/ /3 23 060/ /47 04 950 1860 Cultural Affiliation: NOT APPLICABLE HAER No. N/A Zone Easting Northing 1/