Exploring Boston's Religious History

(617) 523-0470

www.CongregationalLibrary.org

[email protected] 14 Beacon Street

Boston, MA 02108

Old South Church

645 Boylston Street

On the corner of Dartmouth and

Boylston Streets

Copley T Stop

New North Church (Now Saint

Stephen’s)

140 Hanover Street

Boston’s North End

Site of Old North Church

(Second Church)

2 North Square

John Winthrop's Home Site

Near 60 State Street

Granary Burying Ground

Tremont Street, next to Park Street

Church,

Park Street T Stop

Burial Site of Samuel Adams and others

Copp’s Hill Burying Ground

Hull Street

Haymarket and North Station T Stops

Burial Site of the Mathers

King’s Chapel Burying Ground

Tremont Street, next to King’s Chapel

Government Center T Stop

Burial Site of John Cotton, John Winthrop

and others

Other Historical Destinations in Downtown Boston

It is impossible to understand

Boston without knowing something about its religious past. The city was founded in 1630 by settlers from England, popularly known as Puritans, who wished to build a model Christian community. Their “city on a hill,” as Governor John Winthrop so memorably put it, was to be an example to all the world. Central to this goal was the establishment of independent local churches, in which all members had a voice and worship was simple and participatory. These Puritan religious ideals, which were later embodied in the Congregational churches, shaped Boston’s early patterns of settlement and government, as well as its conflicts and controversies. Not many original buildings remain, of course, but this tour of Boston’s “old downtown” will take you to sites important to the story of American Congregationalists, to their religious neighbors, and to one of the nation’s oldest and most intriguing cities.

Exploring Boston’s

Religious History

Congregational House: 14 Beacon

The building which stands at 14 Bea-

con Street, just half a block from the

Massachusetts State House, was for

many years the unofficial headquarters

of the Congregational churches in the

United States. Completed in 1898, it

housed many denominational organiza-

tions, including the original Library and

the American Board of Commission-

ers for Foreign Missions, the nation’s oldest Protestant missionary society.

In subsequent years, 14 Beacon Street

would become an address familiar to

Congregationalists around the world.

In the 1960s, most of the Congrega-

tional Christian churches became part

of the United Church of Christ, and

the denominational agencies followed

to new headquarters in New York and

later Cleveland. Today the Congrega-

tional House hosts a diverse array of

nonprofit organizations, as well as the

Congregational Library and Archive.

The front façade of the building in-

cludes four large bas-reliefs, each de-

picting an important ideal of the Con-

gregational churches. The bas-reliefs

are carved from Knoxville marble,

known for its pinkish-gray coloring, and are six feet wide and five feet tall.

They were originally designed by Do-

mingo Mora, a Spaniard who was una-

ble to continue his work due to the

Spanish-American War of 1898.

Mora’s work was completed by

Stadtler, a Swiss artist who worked

from plaster casts when carving the

tableaux on the building.

Leave the Congregational House and cross Beacon to the opposite

side of the street, near City Convenience. Look up at the Congrega-

tional House building façade.

Park Street

Corner of Tremont and Park

Streets

Park Street Church was organized in

1809, when all but one of Boston’s

Congregational churches (Old South)

had become Unitarian. Park Street’s

founding members were determined

to restore an orthodox presence in

downtown Boston. They selected a

prominent street corner and erected a

building with a spire measurably taller

than the Massachusetts State House at

the top of Beacon Hill.

Park Street has a long and colorful

history. William Lloyd Garrison, the

famous abolitionist, gave his first anti-

slavery speech in its pulpit; the song

“My Country ‘Tis of Thee” was sung

for the first time on Park Street’s

steps. The first Protestant missionaries

to Hawaii were commissioned in the sanctuary, and evangelist Billy Gra-

ham’s began his famous Boston Cru-

sade here in 1950. Park Street Church

sits on Boston’s famous “brimstone

corner,” a site long associated with

protest and free speech—one reason

why its Mayflower Pulpit jutting out

from a second-storey window in the

front of the church, still faces Boston

Common.

Today Park Street is a thriving church

with multiple worship services on

Sunday. It is also a site of the Free-

dom Trail, and during the spring and

summer months historical displays and

tours are available for all visitors free

of charge.

Proceed down Tremont and past the Granary Burying Ground (if you

are so inclined, stop in for a visit) to the corner of Tremont and Park.

We hope you enjoyed your short journey into Boston’s religious past.

Those who want to know more are always welcome at the Congrega-

tional Library & Archive (we are open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m.

to 5:00 p.m.). With advance notice we are glad to conduct tours for

visitors.

Tremont Temple

88 Tremont Street

By the early nineteenth century, Con-

gregationalists had many religious

neighbors on Beacon Hill. In 1838

Timothy Gilbert, an antislavery activist,

left the wealthy Charles Street Baptist

Church to protest their refusal to seat

an African American in his rented pew.

Gilbert’s “free church,” later named

Tremont Temple, opened its sanctuary

to anyone who wished to worship and

thus became one of the city’s first

interracial congregations.

By the late nineteenth century, Trem-

ont Temple’s large theatre-style build-

ing was Boston’s largest indoor space.

The church helped pay its bills by rent-

ing its facilities to all comers—revivals,

animal shows, abolitionist meetings,

and political rallies. In its early years,

the Congregational Library even rent-

ed space in the old Tremont Temple

building.

The present building was erected

after fire destroyed the previous one

in 1893, and it was modeled after a

Venetian palace. By the early 1900s

Tremont Temple was nationally fa-

mous for vigorous revival preaching

and for the thousands of people from

rural New England, the Canadian

Maritimes, and around the world who

flocked to the “stranger’s Sabbath

home,” sometimes impeding traffic on

Tremont Street. Today the church

houses several racial-ethnic congrega-

tions.

The Granary Burying Ground is

across the street from Tremont Tem-

ple and just below the windows of

Congregational House. It is the final

resting place of many members of

Third Church, including “witch judge”

Samuel Sewall.

Cross Tremont Street and turn left, heading toward Citizens Bank.

Continue down Tremont until you are about halfway down the block,

just outside 73 Tremont, and look across the street.

The Granary Burying Ground

Religious Faith

The first carving, looking from left to

right, commemorates the Pilgrims’

observance of the Sabbath on Clark’s

Island in Plymouth Bay on Sunday,

December 20, 1620, and speaks to

the ideal that one should “worship

a c c o r d i n g t o c o n s c i e n c e . ”

Education

The third carving represents the ideal

of “education for service” and shows

the General Court of Massachusetts

founding Harvard College at New-

town (Cambridge) in October of

1636.

Law

The second carving depicts the sign-

ing of the Mayflower Compact on

November 11, 1620, in Cape Cod

Harbor (Provincetown). The tableau

represents the Puritan belief that

there should be “rule under law by

con sen t o f th e governed . ”

Philanthropy

The final carving shows John Eliot

preaching among the Native Ameri-

cans at Waban’s Wigwam, Nonantum

in 1642 and symbolizes the ideal of

philanthropy and “community wit-

ness.”

The First Congregational House

The Corner of Beacon &

Somerset Streets

The Library’s original home was a man-

sion at 23 Chauncy Street (near the old

Jordan’s and Filene’s department stores

in Downtown Crossing). In 1871, after

the collection had outgrown this space,

the American Congregational Associa-

tion purchased the Somerset Club House and the Gardner Estate, owned

by the family of Boston philanthropist

Isabella Stewart Gardner. The two

buildings were remodeled and two

years later, in 1873, the first Congrega-

tional House was dedicated.

This building, sitting at the very top of

Boston’s oldest neighborhood, provid-

ed a central location for Congrega-

tional organizations previously sited all

around the city. The reading room

was large and gracious, and the Library

collection continued to grow. To help

cover costs, the Congregational

House also rented space to several

businesses, including a carpet company

and Professor Robert R. Raymond’s

School of Oratory and Elocution.

In the 1870s and 1880s the Congrega-

tional House at the corner of Beacon

and Somerset was fast becoming the

denomination’s spiritual home. It was

the physical expression of a growing

unity, gathering ground after the

churches joined together under the

framework of a National Council in

1871. But the Somerset Street building

was also becoming too small. In 1896,

the building was sold and lots pur-

chased at 12 and 14 Beacon Street,

where the Congregational House

stands today.

From the sidewalk in front of City Convenience, facing the

Congregational House, proceed left, to the corner of Beacon

and Somerset, walking away from the State House. Stop at the

corner.

King’s Chapel & King’s Chapel Burying Ground

Corner of School and

Tremont Streets

King’s Chapel was the Anglican church

established by Edmund Andros, who

was appointed royal governor by King

James II in 1686. Needless to say,

Andros was not a popular figure in

Boston, and during his three short

years as governor was forced to re-

main at home for fear of his safety.

The colonists were used to managing

their own affairs, and they resented

the presence of an Anglican chapel in

the heart of Congregational Boston.

The King’s Chapel Burying Ground is

right next door to the Church, down

Tremont Street. Though named for its

proximity to the Chapel, its historic

connection is with First Church, and

many of its most famous members are

buried here: John Cotton and Gover-

nor John Winthrop, as well as Hezeki-

ah Usher, the colony’s first printer

and publisher, and Charles Bulfinch,

famed architect of many Boston land-

marks.

For a small contribution you may visit

inside King’s Chapel. The central

aisle, the fenced altar section, the

stained glass and ornamentation, and

the pulpit set off to one side pose a

sharp contrast to the spare interior of

Third Church, symbolizing the deep

social and theological differences be-

tween Anglicans and Congregational-

ists.

Continue up School Street and cross to the other side at the cross-

walk in front of Old City Hall. Keep walking up School Street until you

arrive at King’s Chapel.

French Huguenot Church

Plaque Commemorating the


Boston’s first French Huguenot

Church was organized in 1716 by

Protestant refugees from France. Its

appearance marks a new stage in Bos-

ton’s religious history: after Massachu-

setts Bay lost its original charter and fell under the authority of the English

crown in 1684, new laws required

“toleration” of other Protestant faiths.

The path was not always smooth,

however. Although Boston authorities

did set aside some money to assist the

“French Saints,” there are records of

private complaints about the Hugue-

not tradition of celebrating Christmas

(which many in the Colony would

have considered idolatry) and kissing

in public.

The church, whose membership in-

cluded Peter Faneuil of Faneuil Hall fame, was always small and it disband-

ed in 1748. The building was sold to

the 11th Congregational Church, and

then became the site of the city’s first

public Roman Catholic mass, celebrat-

ed by French naval chaplain l’Abbe de

la Poterie in 1788.

Cross to the other side of Washington Street and across the

square in front of Borders to the corner of School Street. Turn

left up School Street and continue a short way until you reach

24 School Street. You will find a plaque on the left side of the

entrance.

John Cotton

Pemberton Square –

Plaque Commemorating John

Cotton

John Cotton (1585-1652) was the

minister of the St. Botolph’s church in

Boston, Lincolnshire, England. A

learned and highly respected leader of

the Puritan movement, he ran afoul of

Anglican Archbishop Laud, the leader

of the Church of England who regard-

ed him as a dangerous upstart. Cotton

left for New England to become min-

ister of Boston’s First Church in 1633,

sharing his duties with John Wilson.

When Cotton arrived here he was

granted no special rank or privilege.

Congregational churches emphasized

the equality of all members and re-

quired everyone to provide a public

account of their conversion and to

promise to live an upright life. Cotton therefore had to stand for questioning

by the congregation and, once admit-

ted to membership, wait for them to

invite him to be their pastor.

Cotton became a major figure in Bos-

ton’s cultural and religious life; the city

in fact took its name from his former

church in Lincolnshire. He was in-

volved in controversies with Anne

Hutchinson and Roger Williams, both

under fire for disturbing the close-knit

doctrinal unity of the city’s Puritan

churches. He was also a prolific writer,

penning several treatises and the pref-

ace to the Cambridge Platform of

1648, a document known as the

“constitution” of the Congregational

churches. Cotton was also one of the

chief contributors/translators of the

Bay Psalm Book, the first book pub-

lished in the Massachusetts Bay Colo-

ny.

This plaque notes the site of Cotton’s

home on Pemberton Hill, one of the three hills on the original Shawmut

Peninsula where Boston was founded

(the other two are Beacon and Fort

Hill, forming the “Trimountain,” from

whence Tremont Street got its name).

Turn down Somerset and cross the street when able. Across

from Suffolk University’s Nathan B. Miller Residence Hall you

will see a set of stairs. These steps will lead to a large plaza.

Cross the plaza to the shorter of the two round brick struc-

tures.

The North End

The North End is one of Boston’s

oldest and most religiously diverse

neighborhoods. To the left of City

Hall, you can see the spire of the Old

North Church, where Paul Revere is

said to have hung his famous lanterns.

Founded in 1723, it was the second

Anglican church—the official church of

the English crown—to be built in Bos-

ton.

The North End was also home to a

number of Congregational churches,

including Second Church, established

in 1650 for those living in the area.

The so-called “church of the Mathers”

ordained many famous ministers, in-

cluding Increase, Cotton, and Samuel

Mather, as well as Ralph Waldo Emer-

son. Cotton Mather, grandson of First

Church’s John Cotton, participated

most notoriously in the witch trials of

the 1690s, but was more widely

known for his wide learning and schol-

arly accomplishments.

North End Congregationalists had a

complicated history. In 1714 a group

of congregants broke off from Second

Church and formed New North

Church (see etching). Later, a group

from New North left to form the

New Brick Church. When Second

Church’s building was ordered torn

down for firewood in 1775—their

minister John Lathrop was an ardent

patriot—the displaced congregation

joined with the New Brick Church.

Second Church moved to the Back

Bay in 1914, and joined with First

Church in 1970.

Turn towards 3 Center Plaza and take the steps located between 2

and 3 Center Plaza. These will take you to Tremont Street. Using the

crosswalk directly in front of the stairs, cross Tremont half-way, paus-

ing on the triangular island in the middle of the street. Ahead and

slightly to the left, you will see City Hall. Use this as your point of ref-

erence for the next two sites.

New North Church

Old South Meeting House

310 Washington Street

Boston’s Third Church was formed in

1669 by members of First Church who

objected to the “Half-Way Covenant.”

This was a measure instituted by the

Congregational churches allowing a

special form of membership for people

who were not able or ready to give a

public testimony of faith. Halfway

members could have their children

baptized but could not participate in

the Lord’s Supper (a community ob-

servance memorializing the death of

Christ). Proponents of the controver-

sial measure hoped it would keep

families coming to church and under

the regular influence of Sunday ser-

mons. Opponents worried that it

would create lukewarm faith.

Like many of Boston’s Congregational

churches Old South played a political

as well as religious role. In the 1680s, when the English crown sent Edmund

Andros as governor, he comman-

deered the Third Church sanctuary

for an Anglican service on Easter Sun-

day, held while angry parishioners

were forced to wait outside in the

cold. On December 16, 1773, the

Boston Tea Party began with a meet-

ing in the Old South sanctuary, where

Sam Adams called on his Sons of Lib-

erty to get rid of the tea sitting on

ships nearby in the harbor.

British authorities did not forget. They

turned Old South into a riding school

for British cavalry, tearing out the

pews and burning them, as well as a

good portion of Rev. Thomas Prince’s

famous library.

Third Church, also called South

Church because of its location, be-

came Old South in 1717 after another

New South was organized nearby. The

building you see now was built in 1730, remaining behind as an historic

structure after the congregation relo-

cated to the Back Bay in 1875.

If you wish to see more of Old South

you may enter for a small fee. The

interior provides a wonderful example

of Congregational architecture, with

box pews and a plain white interior

devoid of stained glass or religious

images. There is no central aisle or an

altar; a small wooden Communion

table simply lifted up from the base of

the pulpit. The pulpit, set high and in

the center of the long wall, highlights

the Congregational insistence on the

preached word rather than liturgy or

sacraments.

Continue down Washington Street, headed towards Old South

Meeting House on the corner of Washington and Milk Streets.

Anne Hutchinson’s House


Washington Streets

Anne Marbury Hutchinson was born in

Alford, England in 1591. She married

William Hutchinson in 1612 and emi-

grated to New England in 1634, fol-

lowing her pastor John Cotton, whom

she much admired.

Soon after the Hutchinson family set-

tled in Boston and joined the First

Church, Anne began holding meetings

in her house where church members

discussed the sermon from the previ-

ous Sunday. Such meetings were not

necessarily a problem—good Congre-

gationalists were expected to take the

preached word very seriously—but it

was unsettling to have a woman in

charge. As Anne’s group grew to sixty

or more, and as she became increas-

ingly critical of the Boston clergy, she

attracted trouble.

A n n e H u t c h i n s o n a n d t h e

“Antinomians” who shared her criti-

cisms worried that the Congregational

churches were overemphasizing good

behavior as a means of salvation, espe-

cially with their strict requirements for

membership. Only the grace of God

could save, she argued, and anything

else smacked of pride.

In 1637 Anne went on trial before the

General Court of Massachusetts,

charged with maligning the ministers

of the colony. At first she matched her

accusers text by biblical text. But

when the case against her actually

looked like it might fail, she sealed her

fate with the insistence that she had

such a close relationship with God

that she could actually hear “his own spirit in my soul.” This was too much

for the assembled clergy, who found

her guilty of insubordination and ban-

ished her from the Massachusetts Bay

Colony.

Six days after the Court’s ruling, Anne

and her family moved to Rhode Island

and, a few years later, to what is now

Pelham Bay, New York. There Anne

and her entire family save one were

killed in a raid by Native Americans in

1643.

Continue walking along Devonshire until you reach Water

Street. Turn right onto Water headed toward Washington

Street. Stop at Washington and look across the street

The “Manifesto” Church

To the right of City Hall (the south-

west corner of the building) is the

likely location of Boston’s Fourth Con-

gregational Church. It was also known

as the Brattle Street Church, for the

family donating the land, and as the

Manifesto Church, because of its pub-

lic disagreements with Congregational

practice around church membership.

Founded in 1698, Brattle Street re-

flected growing dissatisfaction with the

strict standards laid down by the early

settlers. While the first Congregation-

alists had required public testimony of

personal conversion for all new mem-

bers, Brattle Street required only evi-

dence of “visible sanctity.” Instead of

requiring a lengthy commentary every

time the Bible was read in Sunday

worship, the church allowed members

the freedom to listen and reflect on

their own. Brattle Street was also the

first church in Boston to have an or-

gan, a sharp contrast to the plain, una-

dorned worship typical of Congrega-

tional churches.

Benjamin Coleman, Brattle Street’s first

minister, was also a great supporter of

the First Great Awakening, an upsurge

of religious fervor in the 1730s and

1740s. He hosted the famous English

preacher George Whitefield and helped publicize the work of North-

ampton pastor Jonathan Edwards, one

of the Awakening’s most fervent advo-

cates.

The etching below depicts Brattle

Street’s second building, completed in

1773 after a previous wooden struc-

ture was demolished. In 1871, shortly

after the congregation moved to ele-

gant new quarters in the Back Bay, it

disbanded and the building became

home to the First Baptist Church.

To the Right of City Hall

First Church

State & Devonshire Streets

The founding of First Church in 1630

marks the founding of Boston. The

first members originally settled in

Charlestown in 1628, but were unable

to find a good water supply; they glad-

ly accepted John Blaxton’s invitation to

join him on the nearby Shawmut Pen-

insula where Boston is now located.

The original First Church building, a

simple thatched-roof meetinghouse

erected in 1632, was the nucleus of

the developing town, located near the

waterfront and the Town House. The

congregation rebuilt in 1711 after a

fire destroyed their sanctuary and the

city passed an ordinance forbidding

constructing public buildings out of

wood. The new First Church, known

as “Old Brick,” is visible in the back-

ground of Paul Revere’s famous etch-

ing of the Boston Massacre.

In the early 1700s, First Church minis-

ter Charles Chauncy became a leading

critic of the Great Awakening and the

highly emotional style of religion asso-ciated with it. Under Chauncy the

church shifted its identity from Con-

gregational to Unitarian, and parted

ways with strict Calvinist orthodoxy.

In 1880, the Church celebrated its

250th anniversary by moving to Com-

monwealth Avenue in the Back Bay,

where it still resides.

Finish crossing Tremont to the right side of Court Street, opposite

Starbucks. Continue along Court Street, crossing Washington Street

and passing the Old State House. Stop on the sidewalk behind the Old

State House and look to your right at the Wine & Spirits Store, locat-

ed just to the left of the 1st National Bank of Ipswich.

Quaker Meeting House

Devonshire Street and Quak-

er Lane

In the early 1700s a Quaker meeting

house stood on this spot. This was a

significant achievement since for many

decades Quakers had been forbidden

to enter the Massachusetts Bay Colo-

ny; those who persisted, including

Mary Dyer, were executed. Quakers

were known for their fervent, some-

times ecstatic religious practices,

based on their conviction that God’s

“inner light” resided in every human

heart. This individualistic spirituality

put them at odds with the Congrega-

tional churches, which emphasized the

importance of the gathered communi-

ty. It did not help matters when a

group of Quakers came up from

Rhode Island, naked and covered in

soot, to denounce the wickedness of

Third (Old South) Church in their

meetinghouse.

In 1684, however, the English crown

revoked the Colony’s original charter,

and Massachusetts Bay became subject to English law, including an Act of

Toleration issued in 1689. This meant

that Congregationalists could no long-

er maintain their religious monopoly in

Boston, and soon Quakers, Baptists,

Anglicans, and others began to gain a

visible presence on the outskirts of

Beacon Hill.

Turn right down Devonshire Street, and walk until you reach the first

three-way intersection.

Anne Hutchinson’s House


Washington Streets

Anne Marbury Hutchinson was born in

Alford, England in 1591. She married

William Hutchinson in 1612 and emi-

grated to New England in 1634, fol-

lowing her pastor John Cotton, whom

she much admired.

Soon after the Hutchinson family set-

tled in Boston and joined the First

Church, Anne began holding meetings

in her house where church members

discussed the sermon from the previ-

ous Sunday. Such meetings were not

necessarily a problem—good Congre-

gationalists were expected to take the

preached word very seriously—but it

was unsettling to have a woman in

charge. As Anne’s group grew to sixty

or more, and as she became increas-

ingly critical of the Boston clergy, she

attracted trouble.

A n n e H u t c h i n s o n a n d t h e

“Antinomians” who shared her criti-

cisms worried that the Congregational

churches were overemphasizing good

behavior as a means of salvation, espe-

cially with their strict requirements for

membership. Only the grace of God

could save, she argued, and anything

else smacked of pride.

In 1637 Anne went on trial before the

General Court of Massachusetts,

charged with maligning the ministers

of the colony. At first she matched her

accusers text by biblical text. But

when the case against her actually

looked like it might fail, she sealed her

fate with the insistence that she had

such a close relationship with God

that she could actually hear “his own spirit in my soul.” This was too much

for the assembled clergy, who found

her guilty of insubordination and ban-

ished her from the Massachusetts Bay

Colony.

Six days after the Court’s ruling, Anne

and her family moved to Rhode Island

and, a few years later, to what is now

Pelham Bay, New York. There Anne

and her entire family save one were

killed in a raid by Native Americans in

1643.

Continue walking along Devonshire until you reach Water

Street. Turn right onto Water headed toward Washington

Street. Stop at Washington and look across the street

The “Manifesto” Church

To the right of City Hall (the south-

west corner of the building) is the

likely location of Boston’s Fourth Con-

gregational Church. It was also known

as the Brattle Street Church, for the

family donating the land, and as the

Manifesto Church, because of its pub-

lic disagreements with Congregational

practice around church membership.

Founded in 1698, Brattle Street re-

flected growing dissatisfaction with the

strict standards laid down by the early

settlers. While the first Congregation-

alists had required public testimony of

personal conversion for all new mem-

bers, Brattle Street required only evi-

dence of “visible sanctity.” Instead of

requiring a lengthy commentary every

time the Bible was read in Sunday

worship, the church allowed members

the freedom to listen and reflect on

their own. Brattle Street was also the

first church in Boston to have an or-

gan, a sharp contrast to the plain, una-

dorned worship typical of Congrega-

tional churches.

Benjamin Coleman, Brattle Street’s first

minister, was also a great supporter of

the First Great Awakening, an upsurge

of religious fervor in the 1730s and

1740s. He hosted the famous English

preacher George Whitefield and helped publicize the work of North-

ampton pastor Jonathan Edwards, one

of the Awakening’s most fervent advo-

cates.

The etching below depicts Brattle

Street’s second building, completed in

1773 after a previous wooden struc-

ture was demolished. In 1871, shortly

after the congregation moved to ele-

gant new quarters in the Back Bay, it

disbanded and the building became

home to the First Baptist Church.

To the Right of City Hall

The North End

The North End is one of Boston’s

oldest and most religiously diverse

neighborhoods. To the left of City

Hall, you can see the spire of the Old

North Church, where Paul Revere is

said to have hung his famous lanterns.

Founded in 1723, it was the second

Anglican church—the official church of

the English crown—to be built in Bos-

ton.

The North End was also home to a

number of Congregational churches,

including Second Church, established

in 1650 for those living in the area.

The so-called “church of the Mathers”

ordained many famous ministers, in-

cluding Increase, Cotton, and Samuel

Mather, as well as Ralph Waldo Emer-

son. Cotton Mather, grandson of First

Church’s John Cotton, participated

most notoriously in the witch trials of

the 1690s, but was more widely

known for his wide learning and schol-

arly accomplishments.

North End Congregationalists had a

complicated history. In 1714 a group

of congregants broke off from Second

Church and formed New North

Church (see etching). Later, a group

from New North left to form the

New Brick Church. When Second

Church’s building was ordered torn

down for firewood in 1775—their

minister John Lathrop was an ardent

patriot—the displaced congregation

joined with the New Brick Church.

Second Church moved to the Back

Bay in 1914, and joined with First

Church in 1970.

Turn towards 3 Center Plaza and take the steps located between 2

and 3 Center Plaza. These will take you to Tremont Street. Using the

crosswalk directly in front of the stairs, cross Tremont half-way, paus-

ing on the triangular island in the middle of the street. Ahead and

slightly to the left, you will see City Hall. Use this as your point of ref-

erence for the next two sites.

New North Church

Old South Meeting House

310 Washington Street

Boston’s Third Church was formed in

1669 by members of First Church who

objected to the “Half-Way Covenant.”

This was a measure instituted by the

Congregational churches allowing a

special form of membership for people

who were not able or ready to give a

public testimony of faith. Halfway

members could have their children

baptized but could not participate in

the Lord’s Supper (a community ob-

servance memorializing the death of

Christ). Proponents of the controver-

sial measure hoped it would keep

families coming to church and under

the regular influence of Sunday ser-

mons. Opponents worried that it

would create lukewarm faith.

Like many of Boston’s Congregational

churches Old South played a political

as well as religious role. In the 1680s, when the English crown sent Edmund

Andros as governor, he comman-

deered the Third Church sanctuary

for an Anglican service on Easter Sun-

day, held while angry parishioners

were forced to wait outside in the

cold. On December 16, 1773, the

Boston Tea Party began with a meet-

ing in the Old South sanctuary, where

Sam Adams called on his Sons of Lib-

erty to get rid of the tea sitting on

ships nearby in the harbor.

British authorities did not forget. They

turned Old South into a riding school

for British cavalry, tearing out the

pews and burning them, as well as a

good portion of Rev. Thomas Prince’s

famous library.

Third Church, also called South

Church because of its location, be-

came Old South in 1717 after another

New South was organized nearby. The

building you see now was built in 1730, remaining behind as an historic

structure after the congregation relo-

cated to the Back Bay in 1875.

If you wish to see more of Old South

you may enter for a small fee. The

interior provides a wonderful example

of Congregational architecture, with

box pews and a plain white interior

devoid of stained glass or religious

images. There is no central aisle or an

altar; a small wooden Communion

table simply lifted up from the base of

the pulpit. The pulpit, set high and in

the center of the long wall, highlights

the Congregational insistence on the

preached word rather than liturgy or

sacraments.

Continue down Washington Street, headed towards Old South

Meeting House on the corner of Washington and Milk Streets.


Plaque Commemorating the


Boston’s first French Huguenot

Church was organized in 1716 by

Protestant refugees from France. Its

appearance marks a new stage in Bos-

ton’s religious history: after Massachu-

setts Bay lost its original charter and fell under the authority of the English

crown in 1684, new laws required

“toleration” of other Protestant faiths.

The path was not always smooth,

however. Although Boston authorities

did set aside some money to assist the

“French Saints,” there are records of

private complaints about the Hugue-

not tradition of celebrating Christmas

(which many in the Colony would

have considered idolatry) and kissing

in public.

The church, whose membership in-

cluded Peter Faneuil of Faneuil Hall fame, was always small and it disband-

ed in 1748. The building was sold to

the 11th Congregational Church, and

then became the site of the city’s first

public Roman Catholic mass, celebrat-

ed by French naval chaplain l’Abbe de

la Poterie in 1788.

Cross to the other side of Washington Street and across the

square in front of Borders to the corner of School Street. Turn

left up School Street and continue a short way until you reach

24 School Street. You will find a plaque on the left side of the

entrance.

John Cotton

Pemberton Square –

Plaque Commemorating John

Cotton

John Cotton (1585-1652) was the

minister of the St. Botolph’s church in

Boston, Lincolnshire, England. A

learned and highly respected leader of

the Puritan movement, he ran afoul of

Anglican Archbishop Laud, the leader

of the Church of England who regard-

ed him as a dangerous upstart. Cotton

left for New England to become min-

ister of Boston’s First Church in 1633,

sharing his duties with John Wilson.

When Cotton arrived here he was

granted no special rank or privilege.

Congregational churches emphasized

the equality of all members and re-

quired everyone to provide a public

account of their conversion and to

promise to live an upright life. Cotton therefore had to stand for questioning

by the congregation and, once admit-

ted to membership, wait for them to

invite him to be their pastor.

Cotton became a major figure in Bos-

ton’s cultural and religious life; the city

in fact took its name from his former

church in Lincolnshire. He was in-

volved in controversies with Anne

Hutchinson and Roger Williams, both

under fire for disturbing the close-knit

doctrinal unity of the city’s Puritan

churches. He was also a prolific writer,

penning several treatises and the pref-

ace to the Cambridge Platform of

1648, a document known as the

“constitution” of the Congregational

churches. Cotton was also one of the

chief contributors/translators of the

Bay Psalm Book, the first book pub-

lished in the Massachusetts Bay Colo-

ny.

This plaque notes the site of Cotton’s

home on Pemberton Hill, one of the three hills on the original Shawmut

Peninsula where Boston was founded

(the other two are Beacon and Fort

Hill, forming the “Trimountain,” from

whence Tremont Street got its name).

Turn down Somerset and cross the street when able. Across

from Suffolk University’s Nathan B. Miller Residence Hall you

will see a set of stairs. These steps will lead to a large plaza.

Cross the plaza to the shorter of the two round brick struc-

tures.

The First Congregational House

The Corner of Beacon &

Somerset Streets

The Library’s original home was a man-

sion at 23 Chauncy Street (near the old

Jordan’s and Filene’s department stores

in Downtown Crossing). In 1871, after

the collection had outgrown this space,

the American Congregational Associa-

tion purchased the Somerset Club House and the Gardner Estate, owned

by the family of Boston philanthropist

Isabella Stewart Gardner. The two

buildings were remodeled and two

years later, in 1873, the first Congrega-

tional House was dedicated.

This building, sitting at the very top of

Boston’s oldest neighborhood, provid-

ed a central location for Congrega-

tional organizations previously sited all

around the city. The reading room

was large and gracious, and the Library

collection continued to grow. To help

cover costs, the Congregational

House also rented space to several

businesses, including a carpet company

and Professor Robert R. Raymond’s

School of Oratory and Elocution.

In the 1870s and 1880s the Congrega-

tional House at the corner of Beacon

and Somerset was fast becoming the

denomination’s spiritual home. It was

the physical expression of a growing

unity, gathering ground after the

churches joined together under the

framework of a National Council in

1871. But the Somerset Street building

was also becoming too small. In 1896,

the building was sold and lots pur-

chased at 12 and 14 Beacon Street,

where the Congregational House

stands today.

From the sidewalk in front of City Convenience, facing the

Congregational House, proceed left, to the corner of Beacon

and Somerset, walking away from the State House. Stop at the

corner.

King’s Chapel & King’s Chapel Burying Ground


Tremont Streets

King’s Chapel was the Anglican church

established by Edmund Andros, who

was appointed royal governor by King

James II in 1686. Needless to say,

Andros was not a popular figure in

Boston, and during his three short

years as governor was forced to re-

main at home for fear of his safety.

The colonists were used to managing

their own affairs, and they resented

the presence of an Anglican chapel in

the heart of Congregational Boston.

The King’s Chapel Burying Ground is

right next door to the Church, down

Tremont Street. Though named for its

proximity to the Chapel, its historic

connection is with First Church, and

many of its most famous members are

buried here: John Cotton and Gover-

nor John Winthrop, as well as Hezeki-

ah Usher, the colony’s first printer

and publisher, and Charles Bulfinch,

famed architect of many Boston land-

marks.

For a small contribution you may visit

inside King’s Chapel. The central

aisle, the fenced altar section, the

stained glass and ornamentation, and

the pulpit set off to one side pose a

sharp contrast to the spare interior of

Third Church, symbolizing the deep

social and theological differences be-

tween Anglicans and Congregational-

ists.

Continue up School Street and cross to the other side at the cross-

walk in front of Old City Hall. Keep walking up School Street until you

arrive at King’s Chapel.

Tremont Temple

88 Tremont Street

By the early nineteenth century, Con-

gregationalists had many religious

neighbors on Beacon Hill. In 1838

Timothy Gilbert, an antislavery activist,

left the wealthy Charles Street Baptist

Church to protest their refusal to seat

an African American in his rented pew.

Gilbert’s “free church,” later named

Tremont Temple, opened its sanctuary

to anyone who wished to worship and

thus became one of the city’s first

interracial congregations.

By the late nineteenth century, Trem-

ont Temple’s large theatre-style build-

ing was Boston’s largest indoor space.

The church helped pay its bills by rent-

ing its facilities to all comers—revivals,

animal shows, abolitionist meetings,

and political rallies. In its early years,

the Congregational Library even rent-

ed space in the old Tremont Temple

building.

The present building was erected

after fire destroyed the previous one

in 1893, and it was modeled after a

Venetian palace. By the early 1900s

Tremont Temple was nationally fa-

mous for vigorous revival preaching

and for the thousands of people from

rural New England, the Canadian

Maritimes, and around the world who

flocked to the “stranger’s Sabbath

home,” sometimes impeding traffic on

Tremont Street. Today the church

houses several racial-ethnic congrega-

tions.

The Granary Burying Ground is

across the street from Tremont Tem-

ple and just below the windows of

Congregational House. It is the final

resting place of many members of

Third Church, including “witch judge”

Samuel Sewall.

Cross Tremont Street and turn left, heading toward Citizens Bank.

Continue down Tremont until you are about halfway down the block,

just outside 73 Tremont, and look across the street.

The Granary Burying Ground

Religious Faith

The first carving, looking from left to

right, commemorates the Pilgrims’

observance of the Sabbath on Clark’s

Island in Plymouth Bay on Sunday,

December 20, 1620, and speaks to

the ideal that one should “worship

a c c o r d i n g t o c o n s c i e n c e . ”

Education

The third carving represents the ideal

of “education for service” and shows

the General Court of Massachusetts

founding Harvard College at New-

town (Cambridge) in October of

1636.

Law

The second carving depicts the sign-

ing of the Mayflower Compact on

November 11, 1620, in Cape Cod

Harbor (Provincetown). The tableau

represents the Puritan belief that

there should be “rule under law by

con sen t o f th e governed . ”

Philanthropy

The final carving shows John Eliot

preaching among the Native Ameri-

cans at Waban’s Wigwam, Nonantum

in 1642 and symbolizes the ideal of

philanthropy and “community wit-

ness.”

Congregational House: 14 Beacon

The building which stands at 14 Bea-

con Street, just half a block from the

Massachusetts State House, was for

many years the unofficial headquarters

of the Congregational churches in the

United States. Completed in 1898, it

housed many denominational organiza-

tions, including the original Library and

the American Board of Commission-

ers for Foreign Missions, the nation’s oldest Protestant missionary society.

In subsequent years, 14 Beacon Street

would become an address familiar to

Congregationalists around the world.

In the 1960s, most of the Congrega-

tional Christian churches became part

of the United Church of Christ, and

the denominational agencies followed

to new headquarters in New York and

later Cleveland. Today the Congrega-

tional House hosts a diverse array of

nonprofit organizations, as well as the

Congregational Library and Archive.

The front façade of the building in-

cludes four large bas-reliefs, each de-

picting an important ideal of the Con-

gregational churches. The bas-reliefs

are carved from Knoxville marble,

known for its pinkish-gray coloring, and are six feet wide and five feet tall.

They were originally designed by Do-

mingo Mora, a Spaniard who was una-

ble to continue his work due to the

Spanish-American War of 1898.

Mora’s work was completed by

Stadtler, a Swiss artist who worked

from plaster casts when carving the

tableaux on the building.

Leave the Congregational House and cross Beacon to the opposite

side of the street, near City Convenience. Look up at the Congrega-

tional House building façade.

Park Street

Corner of Tremont and Park

Streets

Park Street Church was organized in

1809, when all but one of Boston’s

Congregational churches (Old South)

had become Unitarian. Park Street’s

founding members were determined

to restore an orthodox presence in

downtown Boston. They selected a

prominent street corner and erected a

building with a spire measurably taller

than the Massachusetts State House at

the top of Beacon Hill.

Park Street has a long and colorful

history. William Lloyd Garrison, the

famous abolitionist, gave his first anti-

slavery speech in its pulpit; the song

“My Country ‘Tis of Thee” was sung

for the first time on Park Street’s

steps. The first Protestant missionaries

to Hawaii were commissioned in the sanctuary, and evangelist Billy Gra-

ham’s began his famous Boston Cru-

sade here in 1950. Park Street Church

sits on Boston’s famous “brimstone

corner,” a site long associated with

protest and free speech—one reason

why its Mayflower Pulpit jutting out

from a second-storey window in the

front of the church, still faces Boston

Common.

Today Park Street is a thriving church

with multiple worship services on

Sunday. It is also a site of the Free-

dom Trail, and during the spring and

summer months historical displays and

tours are available for all visitors free

of charge.

Proceed down Tremont and past the Granary Burying Ground (if you

are so inclined, stop in for a visit) to the corner of Tremont and Park.

We hope you enjoyed your short journey into Boston’s religious past.

Those who want to know more are always welcome at the Congrega-

tional Library & Archive (we are open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m.

to 5:00 p.m.). With advance notice we are glad to conduct tours for

visitors.

(617) 523-0470

www.CongregationalLibrary.org

[email protected] 14 Beacon Street

Boston, MA 02108

Old South Church

645 Boylston Street

On the corner of Dartmouth and

Boylston Streets

Copley T Stop

New North Church (Now Saint

Stephen’s)

140 Hanover Street

Boston’s North End

Site of Old North Church

(Second Church)

2 North Square

John Winthrop's Home Site

Near 60 State Street

Granary Burying Ground

Tremont Street, next to Park Street

Church,

Park Street T Stop

Burial Site of Samuel Adams and others

Copp’s Hill Burying Ground

Hull Street

Haymarket and North Station T Stops

Burial Site of the Mathers

King’s Chapel Burying Ground

Tremont Street, next to King’s Chapel

Government Center T Stop

Burial Site of John Cotton, John Winthrop

and others

Other Historical Destinations in Downtown Boston

It is impossible to understand

Boston without knowing something about its religious past. The city was founded in 1630 by settlers from England, popularly known as Puritans, who wished to build a model Christian community. Their “city on a hill,” as Governor John Winthrop so memorably put it, was to be an example to all the world. Central to this goal was the establishment of independent local churches, in which all members had a voice and worship was simple and participatory. These Puritan religious ideals, which were later embodied in the Congregational churches, shaped Boston’s early patterns of settlement and government, as well as its conflicts and controversies. Not many original buildings remain, of course, but this tour of Boston’s “old downtown” will take you to sites important to the story of American Congregationalists, to their religious neighbors, and to one of the nation’s oldest and most intriguing cities.

Exploring Boston’s

Religious History

Exploring Boston's Religious History

Documents

Transcript of Exploring Boston's Religious History