Freewill Baptist Church-Peoples Baptist Church-New Hope Church

The Portsmouth Pearl is a center of arts and culture at 45 Pearl Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is located in the former Freewill Baptist Church—Peoples Baptist Church—New Hope Church, built in 1868. The building, a fine local example of Italianate ecclesiastical architecture once owned by an African-American congregation, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.[1] It hosts art exhibitions, theatrical productions, and has facilities available for event rental.

Freewill Baptist Church-Peoples Baptist Church-New Hope Church
Location45 Pearl St., Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Coordinates43°4′32″N 70°45′49″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1868 (1868)
ArchitectNathan Tarlton
Architectural styleItalianate
NRHP reference No.03000925[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPSeptember 13, 2003
Designated NHSRHPJanuary 28, 2002[2]

Description and history

The Portsmouth Pearl is located just outside Portsmouth's central downtown business district, at the junction of Pearl and Hanover Streets. It is a two-story wood frame structure, with a gabled roof and clapboarded exterior. Its main facade, facing Pearl Street, is three bays wide, with a center entrance set in a rounded-arch opening. The windows of the facade are elongated rounded-arch windows, set by pairs in round-arch opening in which the lozenge above is of stained glass. Rising from the roof ridge above the entrance is a short tower, with a flushboarded first stage that has corner pilasters, and a second belfry stage with round-arch louvered openings. The tower is finished with a short octagonal steeple.[3]

The church was built in 1857, originally shorter and without the tower. It was enlarged in 1868 by adding 10 feet (3.0 m) to the front. It is an excellent local example of religious Italianate architecture, and is further notable as the first church building in New Hampshire to be owned by a predominantly African-American congregation. The church was built for a Freewill Baptist congregation, which also made the 1868 expansion. It was purchased in 1915 by an African-American offshoot of the Middle Street Baptist Church, which organized as the People's Baptist Church in 1893. It was the first church in Portsmouth to be owned by an African-American congregation. That congregation owned the building until 1984, when it reorganized and moved to a new space.[3]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places". New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  3. "NRHP nomination for Freewill Baptist Church-Peoples Baptist Church-New Hope Church". National Park Service. Retrieved 2014-10-27.
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