First Baptist Church (Boston, Massachusetts)

This article is about the building occupied by the First Baptist congregation starting in 1882. For the building previously occupied by the Unitarians who first used this building, see Brattle Street Church.

First Baptist Church
LocationBoston, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°21′6″N 71°4′36″W / 42.35167°N 71.07667°W / 42.35167; -71.07667
Built1872
ArchitectHenry Hobson Richardson; Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi
Architectural styleRichardsonian Romanesque
Part ofBack Bay Historic District (ID73001948)
NRHP reference No.72000146[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 23, 1972
Designated CPAugust 14, 1973
Southworth & Hawes: Rollin Heber Neale (ca. 1850)
Brattle Square Church, Boston, with sculpture by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (who did the Statue of Liberty)

The First Baptist Church (or "Brattle Square Church") is a historic American Baptist Churches USA congregation, established in 1665. It is one of the oldest Baptist churches in the United States. It first met secretly in members homes, and the doors of the first church were nailed shut by a decree from the Puritans in March 1680. The church was forced to move to Noddle's Island. The church was forced to be disguised as a tavern and members traveled by water to worship. Rev. Dr. Stillman led the church in the North End for over 40 years, from 1764 to 1807. The church moved to Beacon Hill in 1854, where it was the tallest steeple in the city. After a slow demise under Rev. Dr. Rollin Heber Neale, the church briefly joined with the Shawmut Ave. Church, and the Warren Avenue Tabernacle, and merged and bought the current church in 1881, for $100,000.00[citation needed]. Since 1882 it has been located at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Clarendon Street in the Back Bay. The interior is currently a pending Boston Landmark through the Boston Landmarks Commission.

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.