First Parish Church (Duxbury, Massachusetts)

The First Parish Church is a historic Unitarian Universalist (formerly Congregationalist) church at Tremont and Depot Streets in Duxbury, Massachusetts. First Parish Church is currently a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

First Parish Church
Nearest cityDuxbury, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°2′6″N 70°41′33″W
Built1840
ArchitectUnknown
Architectural styleGreek Revival
NRHP reference No.78001404[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 21, 1978

History

The original Duxbury congregation was founded in 1632 by Elder William Brewster as a Christian Separatist church with early members coming from the First Parish Church in Plymouth, the oldest church in New England.[2] In the beginning, the church likely met in congregants' homes until the first meeting house was built near what is today known as Miles Standish Burial Ground.[3] The Duxbury congregation became a parish church of Massachusetts' Congregationalist state church. A schism developed at the turn of the 19th century, when much of the congregation adopted Unitarianism along with many of the other state churches in Massachusetts.[4] State churches were officially disaffiliated with the Massachusetts government in 1834. The current church building was constructed in 1840. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[1]

Images
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See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System – First Parish Church (#78001404)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  2. Winsor, Justin (2009). History of the Town of Duxbury, Massachusetts: With Genealogical Registers. BiblioBazaar. ISBN 978-1-115-77571-7.
  3. Bradford, Gershom (1953). History of the First Parish Church of Duxbury, Massachusetts: "Gathered in 1632.". Woman's Alliance of Duxbury.
  4. Lauer, Paul Erasmus (1892). Church and State in New England. Johns Hopkins Press.


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