St. Michael's Church

I Michael's Church, 26 Pleasant Street, is situated on a knoll and, before later construction and landscaping surrounded it, was a prominent landmark when seen from the harbor. The church land extends north from Summer Street to Pleasant Street with a small area on Washington Street to the east. main entrance faces Summer Street and is reached by a semi-circular drive surrounded by lawn and large trees. To the east of the building is a small, early graveyard. The recent parish house is to the west of the church on a lower level and is connected to it by a passageway. Typical of old Marble- head, the nearby houses have all been built in close proximity to the church and each other. Built in 1714-15, the church is of narrow clapboard with a foundation of native stone.

Originally the building was forty-eight feet square; in 1728 it was extended by fifteen feet on the north side. When built the church was of an unusual design, apparently unique among contemporary meeting houses in New England, varying from them in roof design, plan, vaulting, and location of steeple. Concealed under the present massive hip roof, added in 1728, is the structure of the original roof, a parallel series of three elongated hipped roofs running in the east-west direction, joined to one another by means of a single ridge set perpendicularly along the north-south axis.

Heavy beams were hollowed out to form a system of open wooden gutters, set at a steep pitch in the valleys, and designed to provide adequate drainage» The steeple was placed off-center over the central bay on the western side.

St. Michael's Church in Marblehead is believed to be the oldest Episcopal Church still in use in New England."It was conceived as a feturn to the Anglican religion in 1714 by dissenters rebelling against the rule of Puritans and other independent religions. The "Benefactors" included thirty captains of vessels with the main contributor Colonel Nicholson, colonial governor of New York, Maryland and Virginia. An initial four hundred and sixteen pounds was raised to establish the church. Shortly thereafter a group of forty one contributed an additional three hundred and seventy three pounds for the building of a "Handsome Church in the Town of Marblehead". The church was completed in June, 1715 and its first minister, William Shaw, arrived from England a month later.

Difficulties soon developed in this predominately Congregational town, where the Anglican parish was forced to contribute to the support of other churches and "meetings", until a ruling was obtained from Governor Shute making such contributions voluntary. As the parish was poor and had extended itself too far in building the church, it was slow in acquiring the necessary church appointments. A bell was acquired in 1717, the communion service was given in 1724 and the chan- delier in 1732. The ministers put out constant appeals for prayer books. Tradition has it that the bell was later cracked from continuous ringing to celebrate the news of the Declaration of Independence. The bell was recast in 1818 by Paul Revere and is still in use.

The congregation increased for a period, its new affluence allowing, in 1728, the purchase of contiguous land and a fifteen foot addition to the building. After his visit in July 1744, Dr. Alexander Hamilton described the church's appointments in enthusiastic detail.