United Congregational Church (Newport, Rhode Island)
History
The congregation was gathered as Newport's First Congregational Church in 1695 by Rev. Nathaniel Clap, a Harvard College graduate who ministered to the Newport congregation until his death in 1745. The Second Congregational Church of Newport started another congregation in 1735, but the two later reunited. The congregation was active during the American Revolution and both churches' meeting houses were used as barracks and hospitals by the British and French troops in Newport. Dr. Samuel Hopkins was the minister of the church in the late eighteenth century.
As of 2009, the church was pastored by the Reverends Mary Beth Hayes and Nan L. Baker. The church has since closed, and the has undergone renovation to become an events center.
Building
The current building is a Romanesque Revival structure, designed by Joseph C. Wells of New York City and completed in 1857. It is a basically rectangular building, built out of Connecticut brownstone, with two ornately decorated towers. In the 1880s the congregation retained the artist John LaFarge to redecorate its interior. LaFarge had recently completed work on Trinity Church, Boston, and sought to provide a more elaborate interior than he was able to in Boston. He produced twenty stained glass windows and a series of murals, which represent the only fully integrated ecclesiastical interior he produced. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012.
See also
- Clarke Street Meeting House
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Rhode Island
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Newport County, Rhode Island
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "NHL nomination for United Congregational Church" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
- ^ Flynn, Sean (April 18, 2019). "No longer used for worship, Newport Congregational Church open for events". The Newport Daily News. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
Further reading
- Archambault, Florence (1995). "Forward through the Ages, in Unbroken Line": 300 years of Congregationalism on Aquidneck Island, 1685-1995. Middletown, R.I.: United Congregational Church in Newport. OCLC 34166462.
External links
- Official website
- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. RI-326, "United Congregational Church, Spring & Pelham Streets, Newport, Newport County, RI", 5 photos, 8 data pages