A Universalist Society in Meriden was formed in 1854 and was formally organized in 1863. The Society’s first church building was constructed in 1860. This wooden structure fronted Norwood Street, but was moved to the northeast corner of Norwood and Liberty Streets when construction of a new church was begun in 1891. Completed in 1893 as St. Paul’s Universalist Church, it later became the Unitarian Universalist Church of Meriden. In 2002, with a dwindling membership and the prohibitive costs of maintaining the Richardsonian Romanesque church, the congregation sold the building to two partners who wanted to transform it into a rock and comedy club. When that project fell through, the church was put on the market again and one of its stained-glass windows, made by Louis Comfort Tiffany, was put on auction. In 2007, the church was sold to a Pentecostal congregation, the Holy Word Foundation Ministries. In 2005, alterations were completed on the Unitarian Universalist Church of Meriden‘s new home in a former house at 328 Paddock Avenue.
Hello. I am interested in knowing if the plaque commemorating the church’s members who served in WWI has survived all of the changes this church has gone through over the years. If in fact it has survived, is it in its original location? I would like to ask for a photograph of the plaque and contact someone who could provide me with more information. My great-grandparents and grandfather attended this church upon its completion in 1893 to at least by 1935.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Alan D Learned
San Francisco, CA