church building
German printed postcard c. 1911 of the Common and Unitarian Church, Hubbardston, MA.
"The original meetinghouse location was to have been on a hill northeast of the present location of the First Parish Church. An exchange was made with the minister, whose 100-acre lot included the area set out for meetinghouse and burying ground.
The first settler, Eleazer Brown, was granted 60 acres that same year to keep a tavern. It was nine years before he was joined by other permanent residents. First settlers were documented as arriving in 1737 but there were no permanent settlers until 1744.
The town was incorporated as a district in 1767, at that time the town included 30 families, 150 individuals. Nine years later the towns total population was 388.
An attempt to establish the church was made in 1766 but was not actually formed until 1770 by six men.
Hubbardston's first meetinghouse was built on the common in 1773 and was completed in 1794. The original building measured 45 x 45 feet. A porch and belfry were added in 1806.
The present mid 19th century appearance of the building results from two re-modelings, in 1842 and 1869. In 1842 a room was built under the building, and oxen turned the building counterclockwise so it would face the main road rather than the cemetery.
Although no longer a meetinghouse, the structure still graces the Common these days as the First Parish Unitarian Church of Hubbardston."
The building houses an 1833 bell made by George Holbrook, who was an apprentice of Paul Revere, and a town-owned clock made in 1807 by Abel Stowell, who was a renowned Worcester clockmaker. Here are photos of the clock.
Text is from Massachusetts Historical Commission Reconnaissance Survey Town Report, Hubbardston Mass- report dated 1984.
The building is also on the National Registry of Historical Places.
A photo gallery of various renovation projects on our building can be found here. The 2009 restoration of the building was generously supported by the people of Hubbardston, MA through our Community Preservation Fund.
The first settler, Eleazer Brown, was granted 60 acres that same year to keep a tavern. It was nine years before he was joined by other permanent residents. First settlers were documented as arriving in 1737 but there were no permanent settlers until 1744.
The town was incorporated as a district in 1767, at that time the town included 30 families, 150 individuals. Nine years later the towns total population was 388.
An attempt to establish the church was made in 1766 but was not actually formed until 1770 by six men.
Hubbardston's first meetinghouse was built on the common in 1773 and was completed in 1794. The original building measured 45 x 45 feet. A porch and belfry were added in 1806.
The present mid 19th century appearance of the building results from two re-modelings, in 1842 and 1869. In 1842 a room was built under the building, and oxen turned the building counterclockwise so it would face the main road rather than the cemetery.
Although no longer a meetinghouse, the structure still graces the Common these days as the First Parish Unitarian Church of Hubbardston."
The building houses an 1833 bell made by George Holbrook, who was an apprentice of Paul Revere, and a town-owned clock made in 1807 by Abel Stowell, who was a renowned Worcester clockmaker. Here are photos of the clock.
Text is from Massachusetts Historical Commission Reconnaissance Survey Town Report, Hubbardston Mass- report dated 1984.
The building is also on the National Registry of Historical Places.
A photo gallery of various renovation projects on our building can be found here. The 2009 restoration of the building was generously supported by the people of Hubbardston, MA through our Community Preservation Fund.
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Church entrance lintel reads Erec. June 1773.
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Parish Cemetery, ca. 1773.