The Avon Congregational Church is a
Congregational Church
Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...
building at 6 West Main Street in
Avon, Connecticut
Avon ( ) is a town in the Farmington Valley region of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States. As of 2020, the town had a population of 19,795.
History
At the end of the last Ice Age, 12,400 years BP of the Younger Dryas, nom ...
. Built in 1819 for a congregation founded in 1754, it is a high-quality example of Federal period architecture, and one of the finest works of architect
David Hoadley. The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1972.
[ The congregation is affiliated with the ]United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...
.
Description and history
The Avon Congregational Church is prominently located in Avon's town center, at the northwest corner of Route 44 and 202. It is a two-story rectangular wood-frame structure, with a projecting entry section and a multistage tower with steeple. The projecting section consists of three bays, separated by two-story Doric pilasters, with an entry and window above in each bay. It is topped by a fully pedimented modillioned gable. The tower begins with a plain square clapboarded stage, which has a circular panel with a globe motif, and is topped by a low balustrade with urned posts. The next stage is an octagonal belfry with louvered round-arch openings separated by pilasters. The third stage is also octagonal but smaller in footprint, and is capped by a short spire and weathervane. Each of these stages is also surrounded by a low spindled balustrade.[ and ]
The church congregation was organized in 1754, when the area was still part of Farmington. Its first church building, located on the east bank of the Farmington River
The Farmington River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river located in northwest Connecticut, with major tributaries extending into southwest Massach ...
, was destroyed by fire in 1817. That congregation then divided, and the present church was completed in 1819 for the western half. The building has been judged one of the finest works of David Hoadley, showing evidence of influence on him by the works of Charles Bulfinch
Charles Bulfinch (August 8, 1763 – April 15, 1844) was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first American-born professional architect to practice.Baltzell, Edward Digby. ''Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia''. Tra ...
. The church was damaged by fire in 1876, and lost part of its steeple (since restored) in the 1938 New England hurricane
The 1938 New England Hurricane (also referred to as the Great Long Island - New England Hurricane and the Long Island Express) was one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to strike the United States. The storm formed near th ...
.
See also
*
References
External links
Avon Church web site
{{National Register of Historic Places
Avon, Connecticut
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Churches completed in 1819
19th-century United Church of Christ church buildings
United Church of Christ churches in Connecticut
Churches in Hartford County, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut