Second Church, Boston
The Second Church was a congregation active during 1649–1970, which occupied a number of locations around Boston, Massachusetts. It was first a Congregational church, and then beginning in 1802, a Unitarian church. In 1970, it merged with Boston's First Church.
Its locations in Boston included North Square, Hanover Street, Copley Square, and the Fenway. Its ministers included Michael Powell, Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
History
[edit]First Church in Boston was founded in 1630 by John Winthrop's original Puritan settlement.
Second Church, also known as the "Church of the Mathers", was founded in 1649 when Boston's population spread to the North End and justified an additional congregation sited closer to those individuals' homes. From 1664 to 1741, its clergy consisted of Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, and Samuel Mather.
Both churches were, later in their histories, examples of the westward movement of Boston churches from the crowded, older downtown area to the newer, more fashionable Back Bay. This area was developed for residential use after lowlands were filled in during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Following a disastrous fire at First Church's building in 1968, First Church and Second Church merged in 1970 and constructed a new building at 66 Marlborough Street, which was completed in 1972.[1][2]
Buildings
[edit]Through its long history, the Second Church had some eight church buildings successively, located in various parts of Boston:[3][4]
- North Square (1649–1776). The original building was destroyed by fire in 1676;[5] a replacement was built in 1677. The newer "Old North Meeting House" was destroyed by the British army in 1776.[6]
- Hanover Street (1779–1849). In 1779, the Second Church merged with the New Brick Church, and moved into the New Brick's building on Hanover Street. In 1845, a new building replaced the old.
- Bedford Street (1854–1872)
- Copley Square (1874–1914), on Boylston Street, between Dartmouth and Clarendon.[7][8] Building designed by N.J. Bradlee, in the gothic revival style.[9]
- 874 Beacon Street, at Park Drive (1914–1970). Building designed by Ralph Adams Cram. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Second Church in Boston; now home to Ruggles Baptist Church.
Gallery
[edit]-
Old North Meeting House (built 1677), in North Square -
New Brick Church, Hanover Street, c. 1838 -
Second Church, Audubon Circle, Beacon Street, c. 1916 -
The present-day Ruggles Baptist Church building, used by the Second Church congregation during 1914–1970
Ministers
[edit]
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Gallery
[edit]-
Increase Mather -
Cotton Mather -
John Lathrop -
Henry Ware Jr. -
Chandler Robbins
,_Pastor_of_Old_North_Church,_Boston.jpg)
References
[edit]- ^ Murphy, James A. (December 1973). "Rebirth in Back Bay" (PDF). Progressive Architecture. Reinhold Publishing Company, Inc. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ^ "1968.09 First Church of Boston". Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ^ a b Massachusetts Historical Society. "Second Church (Boston, Mass.) Records, 1650–1970: Guide to the Collection".
- ^ a b Chandler Robbins. A history of the Second Church, or Old North, in Boston: to which is added a History of the New Brick Church. Boston: John Wilson & Son, 1852
- ^ "Great Fires of the 17th and 18th Centuries". bpl.org. Boston Public Library. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ Bell, J. L. (January 16, 2008). "Old North Meeting-House Pulled Down". Boston 1775. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay
- ^ A Church 250 Years Old; Ralph Waldo Emerson Was Its Pastor Seventy-five Years Ago. New York Times, November 20, 1899; p.3.
- ^ Walter Muir Whitehill. The Making of an Architectural Masterpiece: The Boston Public Library. American Art Journal, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Autumn, 1970).
Further reading
[edit]
- The Second Church in Boston: commemorative services held on the completion of two hundred and fifty years since its foundation, 1649–1899. Boston: The Society, 1900.
External links
[edit]- "Second Church in Boston, Copley Sq". Digital Commonwealth. Retrieved June 17, 2022. Photograph taken between 1874 and 1914.