First Baptist Church
- Architect
- Hartwell and Richardson
- Year
- 1881
- Style
- Gothic Revival
- City
- Boston, MA
The First Baptist Church in Cambridge's Central Square traces its congregation to 1817, when it was founded in the home of James Hovey; in 1844 several members left to found the nearby Old Cambridge Baptist Church. The current Gothic Revival building at Magazine and River Streets was constructed in 1881 to a design by Hartwell and Richardson.
the building
An L-shaped plan on a trapezoidal lot. The church sits on a trapezoidal lot bounded by River, Green, Magazine, and Franklin Streets, with an L-shaped building whose long main section holds the sanctuary and whose rear wing extends west to house a parish hall and offices.
Brick, sandstone, and terra cotta. The tall single-story structure is built of brick with sandstone trim and decorative terra cotta detailing, topped by a gabled slate roof with a clerestory section near its peak.
the style
The 1881 building was designed in the Gothic Revival style, with pointed Gothic detailing carried out in terra cotta against brick and sandstone.
More on Gothic Revivalthe architect
The church was designed by the Boston firm Hartwell and Richardson.
significance
The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
nearby
- Clifton Merriman Post Office Building
- Odd Fellows Hall
- St. Peter's Episcopal Church
- River Street Firehouse
- William R. Jones House
- Margaret Fuller House