Congregational - Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Rockville Union Congregational Church (1890)

An excellent example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture, the Rockville Union Congregational Church in Vernon was begun in 1889 and completed the following year. It represents the union of two congregations: In 1888, the First Congregational Church of Rockville sold its land for the building of the Memorial Hall Building, while the Second Congregational Church building was destroyed in a fire. The two voted to combine and build a new church, constructed of stone and designed by Warren H. Hayes of Minneapolis, on the site where the Second Congregational Church had stood.

First Church of Christ, Wethersfield (1761)

Built in Wethersfield in 1761-1764, the First Church of Christ was the town’s third Meeting House. Designed in the Georgian style, it is a rare survival of a brick colonial meeting house. The steeple was most likely modeled on that of an Episcopal church, Trinity Church in Newport, R.I., which was in turn modeled on Christ Church in Boston. George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau attended services here on May 20, 1781, during the period they were holding their important meetings in the nearby Webb House. In 1774, John Adams, who was visiting Silas Deane, wrote in his diary:

“We went up the steeple of Wethersfield meeting-house, from whence is the most grand and beautiful prospect in the world, at least that I ever saw.”

Avon Congregational Church (1819)

Built in 1819 on West Main Street (Route 44), the Avon Congregational Church was designed by the Waterbury-born builder and architect David Hoadley. It is very similar to Hoadley’s 1813 Congregational Church in Norfolk, CT. His masterpiece is New Haven’s United Church on the Green, but the churches in Avon, Norfolk and several other towns, all located west of the Connecticut River and either designed by Hoadley or under his influence, represent simpler versions, suited for smaller communities. Originally part of Farmington, the Avon congregation was recognized as a separate parish, called Northington, in 1751. A split in the Northington church occurred in 1817, when a majority chose to build a new meetinghouse in the west of town, the West Avon Congregational Church–those in the minority went on to build the Avon Congregational Church. Northington became the town of Avon in 1830.

First Church, Farmington (1771)

Built in 1771 in Farmington as the third Meeting House of a congregation which originated in 1652. The First Church of Christ, Congregational was built by Capt. Judah Woodruff and features a steeple which has been described as perhaps the most beautiful in New England. The building‘s Greek Revival porch was added in the nineteenth century. This church shows the evolution from a square colonial Meeting House to a Georgian church with a tower at one end. In the nineteenth century, the freed Amistad survivors were supported by members of the congregation and attended services here when they came to Farmington in 1841, awaiting the funds to return to Africa.

Immanuel Congregational Church, Hartford (1899)

While the Gothic style was used extensively in the nineteenth century and continues to be popular for churches, by the end of the century there was a general return to classicism and a growing interest in colonial architecture. The Immanuel Congregational Church, on Farmington Avenue, was built in 1899 in a style that drew on Roman and Byzantine antecedents and also reflected the Colonial Revival with its red brick and white trim. It was designed by Ernest Flagg, who was known for his neoclassical Beaux-Arts buildings. The church is located across the street from the Mark Twain House. Although the author was no longer residing in Hartford at the time, he still owned the house when the church was built, and referred to the new structure as the “Church of the Holy Oil Cloth” because of the green and yellow Byzantine tiles on the front elevation. These tiles proved so controversial they were plastered over and not uncovered again until the 1980s.

Immanuel Congregational Church is the successor to two earlier congregations. The older of the two was North Church, founded in 1824, and originally located on Main Street where the famous Horace Bushnell was the minister from 1833-1859. In 1867, the church moved to the corner of Asylum and High Street and was known as Park Church for its location across from Bushnell Park. Meanwhile, in 1852, Pearl Street Church had been founded. This congregation moved west and built the Farmington Avenue Church in 1899. It merged with Park Church in 1914 and the two congregations became one under the current name of Immanuel Congregational Church. The church also has a blog.

This concludes our week-long look at some nineteenth century Hartford churches. We began with the earliest Puritan congregations which, early in the century, produced meeting houses in the Federal style (Center Church, South Church). We then moved to the great popularity of the Gothic Revival style, popular with the Episcopal (Christ Church Cathedral) and Catholic (St. Peter’s Church) denominations, and also used by the Congregationalists (Asylum Hill Church). The use of the Gothic mode reached an artistic peak with Edward T. Potter’s High Victorian Gothic masterpiece, the Church of the Good Shepherd. And now we end our survey at the end of the century with the return to classicism represented by the Immanuel Congregational Church.

Asylum Hill Congregational Church (1865)

As the nineteenth century progressed, the Gothic Revival style was frequently used for Episcopal and Catholic churches (note, for example, Christ Church Cathedral and St. Peter’s Church). Some Congregational churches were also built in that style, including the Asylum Hill Congregational Church, the only Gothic Congregational church in greater Hartford. which was built in 1865 and designed by Patrick Keely. A noted architect of Catholic churches, Keely would later design Hartford’s St. Joseph’s Cathedral, which was destroyed by fire in 1956.

The Asylum Hill Church’s first pastor was Joseph Twitchell, who was a good friend of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens). The Clemens family rented a pew in the church. Today the church is also known for its yearly Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival.

South Church, Hartford (1827)

The organization of Hartford’s Second Congregational Church occurred in 1670, after years of doctrinal disputes in the Hartford Church following the death of Thomas Hooker in 1647. After the division, the new congregation built its first meeting house in 1673, later replaced by its second in 1754. The current South Congregational Church on Main Street has a similar Federal style design to that of Center Church, also displaying the influence of James Gibbs, but here the spire is less elaborate, reflecting the popularity of the simpler Greek Revival style at the time it was built. The church is also unusual in having just a single row of windows on its side elevations. An article in the Hartford Courant noted the congregation’s 335th anniversary in 2005. Update 3/8/2012: Added new picture above. The old is here: (more…)