First Congregational Church of South Windsor (1846)

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In 1691, the settlement of East Windsor petitioned the Connecticut General Court for the privilege of having its own church and minister, seperate from Windsor. In 1694, the first meeting house was constructed (to be replaced in 1714). The first minister, ordained in 1698, was Timothy Edwards, father of the renowned preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards, who was born in the East Windsor Hill neighborhood. East Windsor became incorporated as a seperate town in 1768 and in 1845, South Windsor separated from East Windsor. The area where the Edwards had lived was part of the new town. The current Timothy Edwards Church (First Congregational Church of South Windsor) is on Main Street and was built in 1846.

First Church in Windsor (1794)

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The history of Windsor’s Congregational Church goes back to 1630, when its founding members arrived in Massachusetts with John Winthrop‘s fleet. In 1635, they left Dorchester, Mass and settled in Windsor. The town and congregation soon grew under the leadership of their minister, John Warham, and their teacher of church doctrine, Ephraim Huit. The church’s first building was located in the center of Palisado Green. The current First Church in Windsor, on Palisado Avenue, was built in 1794, but was significantly altered in 1844 with the replacement of the original steeple and the addition of a columned portico, both in the Greek Revival style.

First Church of Christ in Mansfield (1866)

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The first Congregational community in Tolland County was organized in Mansfield in 1710. The first minister was Rev. Eleazer Williams, who was succeeded by Richard Salter. The original meetinghouse was replaced by a new church in 1754 (which can be seen in an 1836 sketch of Mansfield by John Warner Barber). When that second meetinghouse was destroyed in a fire, the current church building was constructed in 1866. The First Church of Christ in Mansfield is located on Storrs Road in Mansfield Center. It was designed in the Italianate style, with its facade featuring arched windows influenced by Italian Romanesque churches. The steeple is a replacement of the original, which was destroyed in the 1938 hurricane.

First Congregational Church, Bristol (1832)

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In 1742, when Bristol (known as New Cambridge) was still a part of Farmington, its residents received the privilege, from the Connecticut General Court, to have their own congregational services during the winter months. A seperate ecclesiastical society was formed in 1744 and the congregation settled its first minister in 1747. Their first meeting house was soon completed on Federal Hill Green, which had been chosen as the center of the new community. A school was completed in 1754 and, later, a second meeting house to replace the first. The current First Congregational Church is the third building on the site, constructed in 1832 at the intersection of Maple Street and Prospect Place. It was designed by Benjamin Palmer in the Greek Revival style, although the steeple has a Gothic elements.

Horace Bushnell Congregational Church (1914)

Hartford’s Fourth Congregational Church, modeled on New Haven’s Center Church on the Green, was built downtown on Main Street in 1850. This original building can be seen in a number of historic photographs. In 1913, the Main Street property was sold for commercial development. William F. Brooks, the architect of Hartford’s Municipal Building and the New Britain Public Library, persuaded the congregation to keep the original church’s steeple and portico and use them on the new church, completed in 1914, at the intersection of Albany Avenue and Vine Street. Thanks to this early work of historic preservation, the later building preserves an important part of a demolished historic structure. The Fourth Congregational Church merged in 1953 with Windsor Avenue Congregational Church to form the Horace Bushnell Congregational Church. The church is now home to Liberty Christian Center International. (more…)

The Congregational Church in South Glastonbury (1836)

The Congregational Church in South Glastonbury was constructed on High Street in 1836 by 14 members of Glastonbury’s First Church. After the Great Hurricane of 1938, the other two Congregational churches in town had to be rebuilt, so South Church is the oldest surviving Congregational church in town. The building was raised and turned to face Main Street in 1965. (more…)