The Society of the Congregational Church of Great Barrington (also known as First Congregational Church of Great Barrington) is an historic church building and parish house located at 241 and 251 Main Street in
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,172 at the 2020 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, ...
. It is the fourth church of a congregation whose first meetings were held in 1743.
History
In 1743 the congregation was founded by
Samuel Hopkins, an early proponent of the theology of
New Divinity. In 1883 the current stone church building was completed after a fire destroyed most of the previous structure, which had been built of locally quarried stone in 1859. In 1883 the congregation also accepted the donation by the Hopkins family of a house to be used as a parish hall. This building, also faced in local stone, was designed by
Peabody & Stearns
Peabody & Stearns was a premier architectural firm in the Eastern United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm consisted of Robert Swain Peabody (1845–1917) and John Goddard Stearns ...
, and was previously located across the street from the church before being moved to its present location next to the church.
In the 1880s the church sponsored congregant
W. E. B. Du Bois as he attended
Fisk University. In 1992 the church building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.
Architecture
The church is set in the heart of downtown Great Barrington, facing west toward Main Street. The church, along with its manse and carriage house, are all built of locally quarried limestone. The church is two stories in height, with a longitudinal nave whose walls are supported by buttresses. Its roof is steeply pitched, and covered in slate. A five-story tower, in height, rises at the southwest corner, and is topped by a pyramidal roof with flared edges. The church was built in 1883, using parts of the previous (1859) structure, which was built from stone sourced at the same quarry, and was destroyed by fire in 1882. The church was designed by
William C. Brocklesby, an architect practicing in
Hartford, Connecticut. The manse and carriage barn, added in 1884, were designed by
Peabody and Stearns of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
.
Notable congregants
*
David Leavitt
David Leavitt (; born June 23, 1961) is an American novelist, short story writer, and biographer.
Biography
Leavitt was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Harold and Gloria Leavitt. Harold was a professor who taught at Stanford University and G ...
*
W. E. B. Du Bois
See also
*
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Society Of The Congregational Church Of Great Barrington
United Church of Christ churches in Massachusetts
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Churches completed in 1883
19th-century United Church of Christ church buildings
Churches in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Stone churches in Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Congregational churches in Massachusetts