North Avenue Congregational Church
Encyclopedia
North Avenue Congregational Church (now known as Prospect Hall, and previously as Old Cambridge Baptist Church and North Prospect Congregational Church) is an historic church meetinghouse at 1803 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts
. It is currently owned by Lesley University
.
, for the Old Cambridge Baptist Church
congregation, to designs by local architect Isaac Melvin. It was sold to the North Avenue Congregational Society in 1866 at which time it was renamed the North Avenue Congregational Church. In 1867 it was moved up Massachusetts Avenue to its current location. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1983, and sold to Lesley University
in 2006. The upper level is used as an auditorium by the college and the lower level is leased out.
's New South Church
in Boston (1814) though in Greek Revival form with Egyptian columns. The addition of a chancel and transepts in 1872 created a cruciform plan. The original three-stage tower and spire, similar to that of the New South Church, was damaged in a storm, and in 1906 its upper two round stages and spire were replaced with a square belfry and a copper dome. Today's eight-faceted spire was built in 1964 after the dome was struck by lightning and caught fire, and now only the pedimented first stage of the original steeple remains.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. It is currently owned by Lesley University
Lesley University
Lesley University is a private, coeducational university in Boston, Massachusetts and Cambridge, Massachusetts.The university is a member of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and New England Collegiate Conference.-History:The...
.
History of ownership
The church was originally built in 1845 on Kirkland Street near Harvard SquareHarvard Square
Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street. It is the historic center of Cambridge...
, for the Old Cambridge Baptist Church
Old Cambridge Baptist Church
Old Cambridge Baptist Church is an historic Baptist church at 398 Harvard Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts.The congregation was founded in 1844 when several members of First Baptist Church in Cambridge decided to start a new church. The original meeting house was sold to the Congregationalists...
congregation, to designs by local architect Isaac Melvin. It was sold to the North Avenue Congregational Society in 1866 at which time it was renamed the North Avenue Congregational Church. In 1867 it was moved up Massachusetts Avenue to its current location. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1983, and sold to Lesley University
Lesley University
Lesley University is a private, coeducational university in Boston, Massachusetts and Cambridge, Massachusetts.The university is a member of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and New England Collegiate Conference.-History:The...
in 2006. The upper level is used as an auditorium by the college and the lower level is leased out.
Design
The building's simple, rectangular plan was originally four bays deep with a tall, multi-stage spire surmounting a projecting entrance portico; it then resembled Charles BulfinchCharles Bulfinch
Charles Bulfinch was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first native-born American to practice architecture as a profession....
's New South Church
New South Church (Boston, Massachusetts)
New South Church was a congregational unitarian church of the "New South Society" in Boston, Massachusetts, located on "Church Green" at the corner of Summer Street and Bedford Street. Pastors included Samuel Checkley and John Thornton Kirkland. In 1814 architect Charles Bulfinch designed a new...
in Boston (1814) though in Greek Revival form with Egyptian columns. The addition of a chancel and transepts in 1872 created a cruciform plan. The original three-stage tower and spire, similar to that of the New South Church, was damaged in a storm, and in 1906 its upper two round stages and spire were replaced with a square belfry and a copper dome. Today's eight-faceted spire was built in 1964 after the dome was struck by lightning and caught fire, and now only the pedimented first stage of the original steeple remains.