Kensington Congregational Church (1774)

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The Second Church of Farmington was gathered in 1712, in what is now the Town of Berlin. The first meeting house was located on the road that came to be called “Christian Lane.” The congregation was officially given the name of Kensington in 1722. A new and larger meeting house was built around 1733 a mile south of the first one. The congregational society was divided in 1754 with the creation of new society in New Britain. The original society was again divided between east and west sections in 1772. The west section retained the name Kensington, the east was known as Worthington. Both societies continued to share the old meeting house until the separate Worthington church was completed in 1774. The Kensington Society then built its own new church, over a mile west of the old one, which was dedicated on December 1, 1774. The two communities of Kensington and Worthington later joined in 1785 to form the Town of Berlin (New Britain remained a part of Berlin until 1850). Over the years, the Kensington Congregational Church has been expanded to the rear and adapted in the Greek Revival style.

Haddam Neck Congregational Church (1874)

Haddam Neck Congregational Church

Haddam Neck, on the east bank of the Connecticut River, was originally settled around 1710. For thirty years, the residents made the trip each Sunday across the River to attend church services in Haddam. In 1740, residents of Haddam Neck joined with those of Middle Haddam (in East Hampton) to form a seperate ecclesiastical society, the First Congregational Church of Middle Haddam. The first meetinghouse was constructed in 1744 on Hog Hill, between the two communities, and this was replaced by a new building in 1813, located near Hurd Park. Middle Haddam residents withdrew to form their own church in 1855. The current Haddam Neck Congregational Church, a wooden Gothic Revival church in a woodland setting, was built at the foot of School House Hill in 1873-1874. In 1916, Haddam’s old 1822 schoolhouse was moved adjacent to the church to serve as a parish house.

First Congregational Church of Guilford (1830)

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The First Congregational Church in Guilford dates back to 1639, when Rev. Henry Whitfield and his followers sailed from England to New Haven and settled the town of Guilford, then part of New Haven Colony. They had drawn up a covenant on shipboard during their journey to America. The town’s first meeting house, a small stone building with a thatched roof, was soon built on Guilford Green, replaced in 1713 by a new church, said to have been the first in Connecticut to have a steeple clock and bell. In the early nineteenth century there was a movement to clear the Green of buildings. The current church was then built in 1830, on a site overlooking the Green. The Hurricane of 1938 toppled the original steeple, which was rebuilt the following year.

Enfield Congregational Church (1849)

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Today we look at the congregational churches in two neighboring towns, Enfield and Longmeadow, Massachusetts (the latter over at Historic Buildings of Massachusetts, which has had a number of additions in recent days from towns such has Marlborough, Sudbury, Wayland, Weston, Waltham and Lexington, as well as Longmeadow). The church in Enfield was first authorized in 1680, when the earliest settlers from Salem, Massachusetts, set up home sites in the town. The first church building was constructed in 1683, although the congregation’s first minister was not hired until 1699. The second church building was constructed in 1708 and it was here, in July 1741, that Jonathan Edwards delivered his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” That church no longer exists, but a stone with a plaque marks its former location. The third Enfield meetinghouse was built in 1775, and is still standing; it later served as a town hall and is now a museum. When the current church was built, in 1849, the old building was moved across the street, rotated 180 degrees and had columns added to match the Greek Revival style of the new building.

First Church of Christ in Saybrook (1840)

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Saybrook Colony was established in 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River. It was Connecticut‘s third oldest settlement and first military fortification. A fort was constructed at Saybrook Point and in 1646 the Congregational Church was founded in the Great Hall of Fort Saybrook. The congregation’s first two meeting houses were built at Saybrook Point, the first in 1647 and the second in 1681. The third meeting house was built in 1726, further north in Old Saybrook on the Church Green. It’s steeple was only added in 1793 and a bell in 1794. This church was taken down in 1840 and the fourth church building was constructed across the street. Greek Revival in its style, the First Church of Christ in Saybrook was one of the first prefab churches in the country. The church was extensively renovated in 1977.

Storrs Congregational Church (1927)

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The Congregaional Church in Storrs began as a the Second Ecclesiastical Society of Mansfield, separating from the First Congregational Church in Mansfield Center in 1737. The first meeting house was constructed in 1745-1746 at what is now the corner of North Eagleville Road and Route 195. A later church, built in the 1840s, replaced it and can be seen in many old photos of Storrs. The church was designed by builder-architect Edwin Fitch. It was here that the Second Commencement for the Storrs Agricultural School (which became the University of Connecticut) was held in 1883. That church was replaced by the current brick church, built in 1927. This church was built at the same location as its predecessors, in what was then the center of the campus. At the same time, UCONN purchased the Dunham Memorial Carillon and, not having a suitable tower to place it in, installed it in the church.