First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia
- Architect
- Frank Furness
- City
- Philadelphia, PA
- Collection
- furness's gilded city
Located at 2125 Chestnut Street, the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia traces to June 12, 1796, when twenty of the city's intellectual leaders formed the First Unitarian Society of Philadelphia, the first congregation in the country to continuously function under the name 'Unitarian.' Encouraged by minister Joseph Priestley, the society later called Rev. Dr. William Henry Furness, who served as its first settled minister starting in 1825, and the current building was designed by his son, architect Frank Furness.
the building
Abolitionist pulpit. From the 1830s, Rev. William Henry Furness delivered outspoken anti-slavery sermons from this pulpit as one of the few abolitionist ministers in the city, active in the Underground Railroad; his sermons were so charged that congregation members quietly armed themselves to guard the pulpit on Sundays.
the architect
Frank Furness, one of Philadelphia's most distinctive architects, designed the church for a congregation his father, Rev. Dr. William Henry Furness, had led as its first settled minister beginning in 1825.
significance
The First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
nearby
- College of Physicians of Philadelphia
- First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry Armory
- John C. Bell House
- Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia
- Saint Clement's Church
- Horace Jayne House