Old Cambridge Baptist Church
Encyclopedia
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 and became North Avenue Congregational Church
. In 1869 the church constructed the current meeting house, a larger Gothic revival stone building, designed by architect Alexander Rice Esty
. Old Cambridge Baptist Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1982.
Built of local fieldstone and granite quarried in Somerville, Massachusetts, the building is a notable example of the muscular use of stone, typical of American Gothic Revival architecture. This solidity, coupled with Esty’s display of structural strength in the asymmetrical massing of forms, is further accentuated by the contrast between heavy gray stone and large, graceful, delicate stained glass windows, which the stone walls simultaneously reveal and protect.
In 1897, the original Parrish Hall was lost in a fire. The rebuild was under the direction of noted Boston Theater Architect, Clarence Blackall. The most notable feature of the reconstruction is an 1890 Tiffany & Company Window. This early Tiffany window bridges the gothic stained glass tradition and emerging art nouveau movement.
The church is currently home to various organizations and ministries, such as the Homeless Empowerment Project which publishes the Spare Change News street newspaper, the José Mateo Ballet Theatre, the Adbar Ethiopian Women's Alliance, the Cambridge Child and Family Associates, and others.
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...
.
The congregation was founded in 1844 when several members of First Baptist Church in Cambridge
First Baptist Church (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
First Baptist Church is an historic Baptist church at Magazine and River Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts within Central Square.In 1817 the church congregation was founded in the home of James Hovey. In 1844 several members of First Baptist Church left to found nearby Old Cambridge Baptist...
decided to start a new church. The original meeting house was sold to the Congregationalists and became North Avenue Congregational Church
North Avenue Congregational Church
North Avenue Congregational Church is an historic church meetinghouse at 1803 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts...
. In 1869 the church constructed the current meeting house, a larger Gothic revival stone building, designed by architect Alexander Rice Esty
Alexander Rice Esty
Alexander Rice Esty was an American architect who is largely known today for designing many Gothic Revival churches in New England, however his work also encompassed university buildings, municipal and Federal buildings, office buildings, and private residences across the Northeastern United...
. Old Cambridge Baptist Church 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 1982.
Built of local fieldstone and granite quarried in Somerville, Massachusetts, the building is a notable example of the muscular use of stone, typical of American Gothic Revival architecture. This solidity, coupled with Esty’s display of structural strength in the asymmetrical massing of forms, is further accentuated by the contrast between heavy gray stone and large, graceful, delicate stained glass windows, which the stone walls simultaneously reveal and protect.
In 1897, the original Parrish Hall was lost in a fire. The rebuild was under the direction of noted Boston Theater Architect, Clarence Blackall. The most notable feature of the reconstruction is an 1890 Tiffany & Company Window. This early Tiffany window bridges the gothic stained glass tradition and emerging art nouveau movement.
The church is currently home to various organizations and ministries, such as the Homeless Empowerment Project which publishes the Spare Change News street newspaper, the José Mateo Ballet Theatre, the Adbar Ethiopian Women's Alliance, the Cambridge Child and Family Associates, and others.