United First Parish Church
United First Parish Church (Unitarian) of Quincy | |
U.S. National Historic Landmark | |
The United First Parish Church, Quincy, Massachusetts | |
42°15′4″N 71°0′11″W / 42.25111°N 71.00306°W / 42.25111; -71.00306 | |
Built | 1828 |
---|---|
Architect | Parris, Alexander |
Architectural style | Greek Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 70000734[1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 30, 1970 |
Designated NHL | December 30, 1970 |
United First Parish Church is an American Unitarian Universalist congregation in Quincy, Massachusetts, established as the parish church of Quincy in 1639. The current building was constructed in 1828 by Boston stonecutter Abner Joy to designs by Alexander Parris. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 30, 1970, for its association with the Adams family, who funded its construction and four members are buried there.
United First Parish Church is called the Church of the Presidents because two American Presidents, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, attended the church along with their wives, Abigail Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams. All four are buried beneath the church in a family crypt. Pew number 54, used by John Quincy Adams and his family, is marked with a plaque and ribbon on the side.
History
The congregation first gathered in 1636 as a branch of the church in Boston, becoming an independent church in 1639, known simply as "Ye Church of Braintry," because the whole area was then known as Braintree. It was a Puritan Congregationalist church when first established. In the mid-18th century it became Unitarian, and then Unitarian Universalist in the 20th century.
The 1828 church is constructed of locally quarried granite, and is one of the finest Greek Revival church buildings in New England. It has a Greek temple front, supported by four monolithic granite columns which may have been the largest set in the United States at the time. Each column is 25 feet (7.6 m) tall and weighs an estimated 25 tons. Above the main facade rises a two-stage tower. Its lower section is oblong and unadorned, while the second stage is stepped back and square. It has clock faces on each side, and is topped by an open cupola with eight columns and a dome.[2]
President John Adams financed the church's construction through a land donation, and the bulk of the granite comes from the Adams family quarry. However, the pillars are from another local quarry, as the Adams quarry was not deep enough for a full-height pillar. Its original bell was cast by Paul Revere, but was melted down and recast as it was not loud enough to serve as a fire alarm. The unusual domed ceiling represents a passion flower surrounded by lotuses. The fine mahogany altar is original.
Adams' gravesite
Both John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams, together with their first ladies, Abigail Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams, are buried in a family vault in the church's basement. Only one other church in the United States contains a presidential tomb: the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., where the remains of President Woodrow Wilson and First Lady Edith Wilson are interred.
Prison Book Program
Since 2004, the United First Parish Church has hosted the Prison Book Program in the church basement. The origins of the PBP started in 1972, in the Red Book Store Collective in Cambridge, where it disseminated progressive literature, and advocated for the well being of prisoners. It was influential in creating a legal primer, and prison resource list that prisoners can request by letter, along with the other works of literature the PBP offers. The PBP is not associated with the UFPC and is a secular organization, however the UFPC supports the work the PBP does.[3]
- The church as depicted in a c. 1851–1854 engraving
- 2005 view of the interior and its decorative plaster domed ceiling
See also
- Church of the Presidents, Long Branch, New Jersey
- Adams National Historical Park
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Quincy, Massachusetts
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ "NHL nomination for United First Parish Church". National Park Service. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
- ^ "Our Story – Prison Book Program".
External links
- United First Parish Church website
- United First Parish Church (Unitarian) Of Quincy's National Historic Landmark summary description
- Historical records for the United First Parish Church are in the Andover-Harvard Theological Library at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- v
- t
- e
- Bank Street Unitarian Chapel
- Billingshurst Unitarian Chapel
- Brighton Unitarian Church
- Brook Street Chapel, Knutsford
- Brookfield Unitarian Church
- Chowbent Chapel
- Cross Street Chapel
- Dean Row Chapel, Wilmslow
- Essex Street Chapel
- Fulwood Old Chapel
- Gellionnen Chapel
- General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
- Hastings Unitarian Church
- Horsham Unitarian Church
- King Edward Street Chapel, Macclesfield
- Meadrow Unitarian Chapel
- Mill Hill Chapel
- Unitarian Meeting House, Newcastle-under-Lyme
- Newington Green Unitarian Church
- Norcliffe Chapel
- Northiam Unitarian Chapel
- Nottage General Baptist & Unitarian Church
- Octagon Chapel, Norwich
- Richmond and Putney Unitarian Church
- Rivington Unitarian Chapel
- Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel
- Shrewsbury Unitarian Church
- Taunton Unitarian Chapel
- Todmorden Unitarian Church
- Toxteth Unitarian Chapel
- Underbank Chapel
- Ullet Road Unitarian Church
- Unitarian Meeting House, Ipswich
- Upper Chapel
- York Unitarian Chapel
- California
- First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles
- First Unitarian Church of Oakland
- First Unitarian Church of San Jose
- First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego
- Mount Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church
- Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation
- Pacific Unitarian Church
- Sepulveda Unitarian Universalist Society
- Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley
- Universalist Unitarian Church of Riverside
- Connecticut
- Unitarian Church in Westport
- Unitarian Universalist Church
- Universalist Church of West Hartford
- District of Columbia
- All Souls Church, Unitarian
- Universalist National Memorial Church
- Georgia
- First Universalist Church
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Temple Israel
- Iowa
- First Unitarian Church
- First Universalist Church of Cedar Rapids
- Universalist Church
- Maine
- Dexter Universalist Church
- First Universalist Church
- Pittsfield Universalist Church
- Stockton Springs Community Church
- Universalist-Unitarian Church
- Maryland
- Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church
- First Unitarian Church
- Massachusetts
- All Souls Church
- Arlington Street Church
- Bernardston Congregational Unitarian Church
- Brattle Street Church
- First Parish in Cambridge
- First Church in Boston
- First Church in Roxbury
- First Church in Salem
- First Church of Christ, Unitarian
- First Parish Church (Duxbury, Massachusetts)
- First Parish Church (Taunton, Massachusetts)
- First Parish Church (Waltham, Massachusetts)
- First Parish Church in Plymouth
- First Parish Church of Dorchester
- First Parish Church, Arlington Massachusetts
- First Parish in Malden
- First Parish of Sudbury
- First Parish Unitarian Church
- First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Scituate
- First Religious Society Church and Parish Hall
- First Unitarian Church (Peabody, Massachusetts)
- First Unitarian Church (Somerville, Massachusetts)
- First Unitarian Church (Stoneham, Massachusetts)
- First Unitarian Society in Newton
- First Universalist Church (Provincetown, Massachusetts)
- First Universalist Church (Salem, Massachusetts)
- First Universalist Church (Somerville, Massachusetts)
- Follen Church Society-Unitarian Universalist
- Housatonic Congregational Church
- King's Chapel
- North Parish Church
- Old Ship Church
- Second Unitarian Church
- Theodore Parker Unitarian Universalist Church
- Unitarian Church of Barnstable
- Unitarian Memorial Church
- Unitarian Society
- Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford and the Osgood House
- United First Parish Church
- Universalist Society Meetinghouse
- Wollaston Unitarian Church
- Michigan
- Barn Church
- First Unitarian Universalist Church of Detroit
- Unitarian Universalist Church
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- First Universalist Church
- Peterborough Unitarian Church
- South Parish
- Unitarian Church
- New Jersey
- Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit
- Old Stone Church
- New York
- Chapin Memorial Church
- Christ Church
- First Unitarian Church of Rochester
- First Unitarian Church of Rochester (building)
- First Universalist Church
- First Universalist Church of Portageville
- First Unitarian Congregational Society
- First Unitarian Universalist Church of Niagara
- Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York
- Pullman Memorial Universalist Church
- Second Unitarian Church
- Unitarian Church of All Souls
- Unitarian Universalist Church
- Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Philadelphia
- Rhode Island
- Bell Street Chapel
- First Unitarian Church of Providence
- First Universalist Church
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Church of the River
- Vermont
- Cavendish Universalist Church
- Unitarian Church
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- Bradford Community Church
- First Unitarian Church
- First Unitarian Society of Madison
- First Universalist Church
- United Unitarian and Universalist Church
- Unity Chapel