Archive Record

Metadata

Catalog Number

REL 1100.17

Title

Religious Societies and Houses of Worship

Collection

Religion

Object Name

Records

Scope & Content

The collection is a compilation of a variety of old documents acquired by the Winchester Historical and Genealogical Society as well as more recent additions. There are several sermons, programs of events and histories of the church. Some materials on the First Congregational Church date back to the South Woburn Congregational Society of the 1840s.

The Archival Center has no plan in place for the systematic acquisition of materials from the churches. Most of them, if not all, have an archive in the church itself or its records may be sent to the regional archives of that faith.

Admin/Biographical History

The South Woburn Congregational Society was formed in 1840, becoming the Winchester Congregational Society in 1850. The first church building was dedicated on Dec. 30, 1840. After it burned down in 1853, a new building designed by Alexander Esty was erected on the same site and dedicated on Oct. 11, 1854.

The Second Congregational Church was organized in 1906, having grown out of the Bethany Chapel and Sunday school which served the people of the Highlands. After meeting in private homes and the waiting room of the Cross Street railroad station, a building for the Highland Bethany Society was built next to the Washington School on Cross Street. Originally non-sectarian, in 1906 it was organized into the Second Congregational Church. In 1926, the members moved into a new stone building at the corner of Washington Street and Kenwin Road.

The Baptist Society was organized on Aug. 18, 1852. A building on the corner of Washington and Mt. Vernon Streets was dedicated on June 9, 1864, and replaced by a larger structure designed by George F. Newton in 1928.

The Second Baptist Church, also called the New Hope Baptist Church, began with services held for the African-American community in the 1890s. In 1896, the meetings were recognized as a mission of the Baptist Church. The group used the old Washington School building on Cross Street, which it bought in 1920 and remodeled. By 1975, the building had not been used for years and was offered for sale. In 1980, it was purchased and converted into a residence.

The Unitarian Society began with a Sunday school organized in 1855 and occasional preaching services. In November 1865, articles of organization were drawn up. Services were first held in Lyceum Hall. The first church building was dedicated on March 17, 1870. After a fire on Nov. 16, 1897, the Society built a new church at the intersection of Main Street and Mystic Valley Parkway, designed by George F. Newton and dedicated on April 27, 1899.

Methodists began holding meetings in 1871.The Methodist Episcopal Society, organized on Feb. 21, 1872, dedicated its first building at the corner of Mt. Vernon Street and Converse Place on June 1, 1876. Its second building, designed by the firm of Hutchins and French and built at the intersection of Church and Dix Streets, was dedicated on October 10, 1926. It was named for Winnifred Crawford, wife of Frank Crawford, who purchased the land and raised funds to build the new church. The Winchester Laundries bought the old building, used it for offices, and rented it as a community recreation center from 1936 to 1943. It was demolished in 1958.

Roman Catholics originally attended church in Woburn. After a small frame chapel was built, mass was celebrated in Winchester for the first time on Dec. 25, 1875. In 1876 the parish of St. Mary's was constituted. During the tenure of the second pastor (1882-1889), a new building was built. Under the fourth pastor, who arrived in 1893, the wooden structure was enlarged and encased in brick during 1896-1897. The architect was Patrick W. Ford.

The Immaculate Conception Parish was founded on Sept. 21, 1931. A wood-framed building opened on Jan. 24, 1932. New buildings for a church and school on Sheridan Circle were dedicated on Sept. 10, 1955. A convent was built at 2 Sheridan Circle in 1959. This parish was closed 2004 and the property sold.

St. Eulalia's on Ridge Street, whose parish extends also into Arlington, opened in 1966. The building was designed by Boston architect John P. Heffernan.

The first public Episcopalian service occurred in 1882. The group built a church building on a piece of land on Mt. Vernon Street offered by David N. Skillings Jr. and held their first service on January 25, 1885. The Parish of the Epiphany moved into a new building on Church Street which opened on Oct. 8, 1905. The new building was designed by Winchester resident F. Patterson Smith, of the firm Warren & Smith. The old building was used by the Handicraft Society until rented by the Christian Scientists.

Local Christian Scientists organized in 1900 and met in Town Hall. In 1907 members began meeting in the former Episcopal Church, to which they added a Sunday school room in 1928. Needing larger quarters, they bought land on Church Street, hired Royal Barry Wills to design it, and built a new church building which opened on Oct. 19, 1958. The old building was purchased by the Knights of Columbus who demolished the Arts and Crafts building in 1976 to replace it with a larger brick structure, now the home of the Hope Christian Church.

Temple Shir Tikvah, organized in 1985, dedicated the first synagogue in town in 2000. The building was originally a private residence on Main Street. In its parlor, the first meeting of Unitarians which led to the formation of the Winchester Unitarian Society in 1865. Moved to Vine Street, it continued to be used as a home, then the headquarters successively of the Knights of Columbus, Odd Fellows, and American Legion, and then again as a residential building before being remodeled as a synagogue.

Copyrights

Permission to publish material from this collection is subject to approval by the Town of Winchester.

Finding Aids

A finding aid with detailed information about the contents of the collection is available. Contact the Archives for a copy.

People

Bennett, Joseph
Bissell, Edwin C.
Blood, Lydia
Browne, Benjamin P.
Chaffee, John R.
Chidley, Dr. Howard J.
Cutter, Stephen H.
Dascomb, A. B.
Esty, Alexander
Eustis, William T.
Gould, George H.
Gray, George Zabris Rie
Gustin, Mary
Hefflon, Joseph
Hodge, Henry Eugenius
Holt, Stephen A.
Hook, H. W.
Kendall, Isaac Holmes
Mason, John C.
McKenzie, W. S.
Metcalf, Joel H.
Metcalf, Richard
Newton, D. Augustine
Osborne, Norman V.
Perkins, George H.
Quimby, Cora
Robinson, Reuben T.
Sanderson, Lydia J.
Seymour, Charles R.
Smith, George P.
Steele, John M.
Storer, Robert
Suter, John W.
Thompson, Abijah

Containers