East Haddam‘s first Ecclesiastical Society began in 1704 and the first meetinghouse took five years to build. The first minister was Rev. Stephen Hosmer. A second meeting house replaced the first in 1728 and the third and current church was built in 1794. It was designed by Lavius Fillmore, an architect who later designed the Congregational churches in two Vermont towns, Bennington (1805) and Middlebury (1809), the latter being considered his masterpiece. The Federal-style East Haddam church has an elaborate interior with Doric columns and Roman arches. It was also built with a domed ceiling which provides excellent acoustics.
First Church of Christ, Congregational, East Haddam (1794)