- 4 Foim No.10-300 IRev 10-74 - -

U NilEl SIJVFES DEPARTMENT OF1lIE IN1 IjRIQR1VöSUSEONLT

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTEROF HISTORIC PLACES JHECEIVEU - - -

INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM

_______ _____

SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLErENATIONAL REGISTER FORMSTYPE ALL ENTRIES-- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS

‘NAMEHISTORIC

Pawtucket Congregational Church

AND/OR COMMON

.

LOCATIONSTREET&NUMRER

40 nd 56 Walcott StreetFOR PUBLICATION

CITY. TOWN CONGRESSJONAL DISTRJCI -

Patvtucket- VICINITYOF 1 I-Ion. Fern anci J. St - Germain .

STATE CODE COUNTY CDRhode Island 44 providence Ou /

CLASSIFICATION

CATEGORY OWNERSHIP STATUS PRESENTUSE -

.

DISTRICT . XOCCUPIEO MUSEUM

BUILDINGIS &PRJVATE

STRUCTURE ._BOTH IN PROGRESS PRIVATE RESIDENCE

PUBLIC ACQUISITION ACCESSIBLE EI.IGJOUS

PROCESS LYES: RESTRICTED SCIENTIrIC

..BEING CONSIDERED ._YES: UNRESTRICTED .INDUSTRIL IRANSPOR rAFION

MILITARY

OWNER OF PROPERTYNAME

Pawtucket Congregational ChurchSTREET & NUMBER

40 Walcott StreetCITY. TOWN STATE

Pawtucket - VICINITYOF Rhode Island

LOCATLON OF LEGAL DESCRIPTIONCOURTHOUSE. -

REGISTRY OF DEEDSETc Pawtucket City Hall -

STREET & NUMBER

167 Roosevelt Avenue--CITY. TOWN STATE

Pawtucket Rhode Island

REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS -

TITLE Pawtucket, Rhode Island - Statewide Hi storic PreservationReport Pr - P

DATE -

1978 FEDERAL X_STATE

DEPOSITORY FOR

SURVEYRECOROS Rhode island Histori cal P reservation CommissionCITY. TOWN . SlATEProvidence Rhode Island

jDESCRIPTION

CONDITION CHECK ONE CHECK ONE

_EXCELLENT _DETERIOHATED _UNALTEHED ORIGINAL SITE

XGooD _RUINS _ALTERED _MOVED DATE________

_FAR _UNEXPOSED -

DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL IF KNOWN PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Built in 1867-1868 and designed by Boston architect John Stevens,Pawtucket Congregational Church is a. vibrant example of Rornanesqueand Italianate architectural elements combined in a bold and ratherBaroque whole. The church has long been a landmark in Pawtucket,where it is sited commandingly on the flank of a hill facing west-

- ward across the Blackstone River to the historic Slater and WilkinsonMillsl Photo 2 and beyond to Pawtucket’s present heavily "renewed’downtown. East of the church, ascending the hill , is the city’swell-heeled, primarily late-nineteenth-century residential neighborhood

- known as Quality Hill, or which the Church serves as a focal entrypoint.

C

The church is a broadly proportioned, gable-roofed, frame building,five-bays deep and three bays wide, with a projecting two-storynarthex and heavy foretower on the west and a narrow, two-storygable-roofed service area on. the east Photo 1 .

It is set on afoundation of ashlar, with cut fieldstone infill, which varies inheight from a full story on the north -flank to only three feet onthe south, due to the slope of the hillside. A small, frame connectingunit and a large brick Federal Revival parish house were added tothe east end of the Church. in 1936, following designs of Monahan andMeikle, a Pawtucket-based architectural firm. These additions werecarefully designed - - the hyphen was clearly intended as a stylistictransition between the old and new sections, with its ‘drip cornice

- continuing that of the main building and its semi-circular modifiedfanlight above the entrance echoing Federal details of the parishhouse - - but it is the architectural distinction of the originalsection which commends the church for nomination to the NationalRegister.

The church is visually dominant in t]ie Pawtucket city-scape , notonly by virtue of its physical siting but also, and especially, -

because of architect John Stevens’ extraordinarily successful combination of bold, heavy massing with a lively mixture of large-scaleapplied ornament - label.. inouldings over doors and windows, corbeltables and running ëourses of massive flat drips, and a variety ofwiry brackets. The four-story foretower, in particular, with itshorizontal matched-boarded buttressed corners and corn ices, is ahefty blunt visual form, despite the careful graduation in scale ofapertures and ornament of the tower as it rises and the angled andgraceful consoles of its open belfry. Old photographs c. 1880

1Both mills have already been entered on the National Register -

See continuation sheet 1

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Form No. 10300,

11-1ev. iO-fll

_________________________________________________________

UNtil] SFAl [S DFP.-RTMLNI OF H II Il1 ION FOR NPS USE ONLYNATIONAL PARk SERVICE

RECEIVED

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM

- DATEENIERED -

CONrI NUATION SHEET -_1 ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 2

showing the original tapering spire damaged by the hurricane of 1938and subsequently replaced by a small ogee-curved copper cap revealthat the tower has always appeared somewhat squat and thickset inproportion to the rest of the church. The ogee- curved roofline ofthe narthex, swelling out on each side of the tower, adds to thequalities of width and weight.

The sense of heaviness is further increased by the use- of buttress -

like forms to define the five bays on each flank of the church. These- buttresses reflect the architect s conscious attempt to translate into

the nineteenth century wooden building tradition Romanesqueoriginalsof stone - There is a lively visual tension between wood which isobviously wood, in the rhythm of the narrow clapboarding of the -

facades of tower and naVe, and wood which is used to imitate moresolid stone in the buttresses and corbel tables.

The vocabulary of ornament used to define and enliven the varioussections of the church displays a similar tension between materialsand use. Label mouldings with chiseled spring blocks ovet doors ahdwindows and the corbel tables on all four sides of the nave have the

- three dimensional quality and structural characteristics of carvedstone . In contrast, the wiry brackets which trim the eaves in severalvariations paired and in a running course and the simple elongatedcorbels or "drips" which seem to "frost" the entire church indicatethe carpenter’s materials and skills. The heavy flatness of theapplied "drip" courses creates an effective foil for the brackets,

- which are cut back with such a spring that they seem to resemblesnakes arching back their heads. All of the applied moulding is well -

defined and thick enough to throw patterns of shadow across the- flatterfacades of tower and auditorium in the romantic fashion recommendedby Downing, Wheeler, and other mid-nineteenth centuryarchitecturaltheorists.

Within, the church follows a plan fairly standard in many aspectshut unique in others see sketch plan . Several remode.llings - -

a major one in 1913 and a relatively minor one in 1968 -- have effectedsubtle but significant changes; thepresent style of the interior isessentially of a restrained Federal Revival type - FQderal Revivalelements were cleverly applied to the original features of the church,once the mid-nineteenth century ornament had been removed, cut off,

See continuation sheet 2

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CPormNo 10-300,1Mev, 10741

IJNIl’I:I S’I’.- IFS lI’l’.R’I’MENT op.’ iii: IN ItRIOR FOR NPS USE ONLYNATIONAL PARK SERVICE

RECEIVED

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM DATEEF’JTERED . -

CONTINUATION SHEET 2 ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 3

or painted over. Lost to twentieth century restraint were such livelyfeatures as corbeled tables on the gallery faces,- heavy turned balustersand ball finials on the staitcases, and the elaborate, ornatelystencilled painting of the auditorium ceiling. Despite these changes,the interior of the church retains a strong nineteenth century flavor.

The entrance of the church opens into ‘a broad narthex from whichflanking staircases riseto the auditorium Photo 3 . These stairshave been widened, most likely to accommodatethe additional spacetaken up by a one-story interior entry shelter added during remodellingin 1915; the rails and newels of. the original stairs we’re re-used, butcrisply turned Federal Revival halusters were inserted. The muchheavi:er balustrade fronting the passage at the auditorium level isthe original and provides an instructive contrast. From the passage;at either side, open, Federal Revival, stair cases give accessto thegalleries and choir loft. Below the passage, at entry level, stairsdescend towhat was originally used as a single large lecture roomwhich has subsequently been taken over by Chapel, Sunday School, andkitchen functions.

The rear wall of the auditorium curves slightly as do the presentpews of heavy dark wood installed in 1915 along with new narrowhardwood flooring . Old photographs indica.te that this curvingarrangement is original, even though the pews themselves are not. -

A main aisle and two side aisles beneath the galleries lead towardthe pulpit ‘Photo 4

The pulpit area suffered the greatest changes in the church.Originally, an open, incomplete triple-arch motif ‘with heavy pendentbosses rose behind an elaborate wooden pulpit, serving both to ornamentthe rear wall and to display the handsome organ pipe caings recessed -

therein Photo 4 . In 1915, the ‘triple arch and two flanking’applied motifs were removed entirely and a wide square opening’ withtwo curved Federal Revival corner vo lutes remini scent of AsherBenjamin details was nstailed. This, at least, still allowed thehandsome organ pipe casings to he seen. Remodelling in 196-8 hasreturned the wall treatment to a full tripleS arch but the pipe, casingsare now covered with drapery Photo 5 .

One of the unique aspects of the auditorium is the Fact that thegalleries have stairs at the pulpit end which curve gracefully doin

- -- See continuation sheet 3

Uorni No 1 0-300,1Mev, 10-741

LJNIi’h:I S]A’I’FS D[I’ARIMENT DI: lIft 1k ftRIOR- NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

FOR NPS USE ONLY

RECEIVED -

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM DATE ENTERED

CONTINUATION SHEET 3 ITEM NUMBER PAGE 4

on either side of the pulpit area Photos 5 and 6in the 1915 remodelling, the heavy Victorian ball finiaterminated the octagonal newel posts and put a visual scurve of the stairs, were sawn off. Interestingly, theduring the 1960s remodelling adapted and comhined the cpanelled gallery rail and newel posts in its form. Thepulpit. had been removed during the 1915 changes.

Unfortunately,ls, whichtop to thepulpit built

urved solidor i g i n al

At the opposite end of the auditorium is the choir loft. Originallyopen with stairs enclosed in -curved corner quadrants, the b-ft arcadeshave long since been filled in presumably to decrease drafts’ andthe - stairs have been’ opened and fitted with Federal. Revival balustrades.The auditorium is lighted by full-height, round-arched windows, fiveon each side, once probably filled with translucent, faintly coloredBelgian glass, but now filled with good twentieth century stainedglass memorials.

Fo’ op No 10- 300atFlcv 10-741

tiNh’l’I:I ‘ A iFS h,Ih’:I’t’I’MI:NlOI ‘iii. IN N RICkNATIONAL-PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM

FOR NPSUSEONLY

RECEIVED

DATE ENTERED i

CONTINUATION SHEET 4 - rEM NUMBER

C:,4D’

‘4/TUCCT c t/nr/,1J C.fjgc7,k’L<47 ,&fyL/r/t:4,cØ

-n-# /34V -

7 PAGE 4

SIGNIFICANCE -

PERIOD - AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE--CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW

_PHEHISTORIC AflCIIEOLOGY.PREHISTOAIC _CDMMUNITY PLANNING ..LAN0SCAPE ARCHITECTUnE RELIGION

_1400-1499 _ARCHEDLOGY-HISTDRIC CONSERVATION ._L,AW _SCIENCE...,1500-;599 _AGRICULTURE _ECONOMICS _LITERATURE _SCULPTuRE

_.1600-1699 ,XARCHITECTURE EDUCATION _MILITARY _SOCIALJHUMANITAAIAN

_1700-1799 ..ART .._ENGINEERING MUSIC ‘ _THEATERXi 800-1899 _COMMERCE _ExPLonArIoNfsE’TTLEMENT _PI-IILOSOPHY _TRANSP0RTATION_1 900. _CDMMUNICATIDNS ,..JNDUSTHV _POLITICS/GOVERNMENT OTHER ISPECIEVI

_INVENTION

SPECIFIC DATES. 1857 -1368 BUILDER/ARCHITECT John Stevens -

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Despite interior and -exterior twentieth century alterations, PawtucketCongregational Church is unquestionably worthy of preservation and ofnomination to the National Register as an architectural landmark ofstatewide in’iportance. It is’, perhaps, the outstanding church in theRomanesque-Italianate style still standing in Rhode Island. The historyof the church body and that of the church building, which parallel thedevelopment of Pawtucket, are also of some local historical interest.

The church was designed by John Stevens 1824-? a,n architectwhose office was in Boston but whose practice- -included much of NewEngland. His known huil di..ngs, primarily churches and such publicstructures as schools and town halls, were erected in Maine, MassachusettsVermont, and Rhode Island, the maj ority of them being in Maine andMassachusetts. Stevens’ earliest known work was the Punchard Free

- School in Andover, Massachusetts, designed in the Italianate stylein 1855-1856. By the late 1350’s Stevens’ buildings combined Italianateand Romanesqueelements in a highly plastic and distinctive personal stylewhich Pawtucket Congregational Church embodies. Stevens designed atleast four other Congregational Churches in the 1360’s which arepractically identical in form and detail to the Pawtucket Church. 1Many. of Stevens’ subsequent buildings, particularly- churches, share thesame vocabulary of details as these churches, but vary in the compositionof forms.

Pawtucket Congregational .Church is the only ‘Rhode- Island buildingpositively attributed to Stevens. Although, considering ‘its alteredinterior and missing spire, the church is not the best preserved- ofStevens’ extant work, its combination of Romanesqueand ltaliana’te -

1The four are: South Congregatio!Ial Church, Andover, M:Is sachusetts1860-1861, First Parish Congregational Church, Saco, Maine 1360-1863,Third Congregational Church, Biddeford, Maine 1863-l$65 , andTrinitarian Congregational Church, North Andover, Massachusetts1865- 1367All are still standing, although the Third Congregational Church has

been converted into a library. .

See continuation sheet S

Form No 1 0300a -

IRev 10-74 - - -

t;’NII’I1I.cI A’IIS FI’.Ai<’I’L-II-N I 0!’ I Iii. i- I-Rick- FOR. NESUSE ONLY

. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

RECEIVED

NATIONAL REGISTER OF FHSTORIC PLACES - -

INVENTORY--NOMINATION FORMOA1EENTERED

CONY! NUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 8 PAGE 2

elements gives it an appearance of unusual power and makes’ it trulyrepresentative o’f Stevens" finest work. --

For its first hundred years, until 1792, the’ community whicheventually became Pawtucket had no church of its own. Pawtucket eastof the falls at that time was part of Rehoboth, MassachLlsetts , andland lying west of the falls was under the jurisdiction of Rhode Island.Until the erection of Pawtucket’s First Baptist Church in 1792,residents attended church services in Providence, Rehoboth, andSmithfie.ld. In 1812, Seekonk or eastern Pawtucket was ‘set off fromRehohoth and, in 1828, Pawtucket, Massachusetts was set off. fromSeekonk. That same year the Pawtucket Congregational Society wasformed, purchased a lot, and erected their first building, on the siteof the present structure. Designed by noted Rhode Island masterbuilder and Pawtucket resident Clark Sayles, the church stood untildestroyed by fire in -1364.

The church Stevens designed to replace this building housed acongregation expanded in numbers hut not in ethnic diversity. Mostof the congregation were still native horn, despite the fact thatPawtucket had experienced a tremendous increase in population mostly

- of Irish immigrant laborers between 1828 and 1362, when Pawtucket,Massachusetts, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island were at last joined intoone Rhode Island town. That the congregation maintainedinto the.twentieth century its primarily nat ive - born composi tion is evidencednot only by membership rosters but also by the Fact that alterations

- made to the church in 1913 were funded almost totaLly by the prosperousYankee Darius L. Golf, head of P. GolF and Sons, manufacturers ofbraid and mohair plush. , -

The visual importance of Pawtucket Congregational Church, ,

commandingly sited From the First, has recently been underscored byurban renewal clear ance projects and the construction in the late1960’s of Interstate Route 95, from which the boldly articulatedchurch’ is highly visible. The church is, thus, to-day one off Pawtucket’ soutstanding visual landmarks, outstanding in impact as well as inarchitectural quality. -

- - ". V

Morm No. 10-300,IHey. 10-74

UNIllili slA’r’Ls DII’-RINILN’I Q}: FIlE IN ERIORNATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM

FORNPSUSE0NLY

RECEIVED

DATE ENTERED I

CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER PAGE

Grieve, Robert. An Illustratedand Vicinity... PawtucketIsland, 1897

Roper, Steven J.

History of Pawtucket, Central Falls

Unpublished research on architect John Stevens

6 9 2

Gazette and Chronicle, Pawtucket, Rhode

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

- A Century of Christian Service 1829-1929, Pawtucket CongregationalChurch. E. L. Freeman Company, Providence, Rhode Island, .1929.

Johnson, Mrs. John E. Ihterview with Mrs. Johnson, February, 1978.

See continuation sheet

WGEOGRAPHICAL DATAACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY 1 e s s than nncUTM REFERENCES - -

A Ii 91 [31 0121 316101 I46I3,81E 9101 at I I I I- ZONE -EASTING NORTHING ZONE EASTING NORTHING

ci I III III I ‘Ii I - ol liii Ii 11111 liii IVERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION

Church: . Plat 22A, Lot 81- Parish house: Plat 22A, Lots 116 and 84

LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE CODE COUNTY CODE

STATE CODE , coUNTY . CODE

FORM PREPARED BY - -

NAME / TITLE -

Judith Sullivan and Ancelin Lynch, Grants and National RegisterORGANIZATION - - - DATE Coordinators

Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission February, 1978 -

STREET& NUMBER - TELEPHONE

150 Benefit Street . 401-277-2678CITYORTOWN . STATE -

Providence - - Rhode Island

ESTATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATIONTHE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:

NATIONAL - , STATE2L... - ‘ LOCAL..,......- -

As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 PdbI,ic Law 89-6651.1hereby nominate this property for inclu ouittte Na ‘ al Register and Certify that it has been evaluated according to thecriteria and procedures set forth by the ational P tIc rvlCe. -, -

FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVE SIGNATUR - - -

ft&Cc-f- -.

TITLE , State Historic Preservation Officer ‘DATE March 31, 1978FOR NPS USE ONLY - - --

- I HEREBY CrRTIFY TI-IATIHIS PROPERTY IS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER - - &

- -

- DATE

DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF ARCHEOLOGY AND HISTORIC PRESERVATIONATTEST. - - - - OATE -:

KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER -

-f/f!1i

R-twtucket CongregatiOflil ChurchPv*.I.uc’t, Rhode IsThnd

19 302360

4639IVIOn N

290000 FEEl

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