Churches

Market Square, Portsmouth, NH

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Market Square in Portsmouth, looking east from the corner of Congress Street and Fleet Street around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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Market Square in 2015:

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Unlike some of the other street views of Portsmouth, this scene has actually seen some significant changes over the past century, although two prominent historic buildings from the first photo are still standing today.  In the center of the photo is the North Church, which was built in 1854.  Perhaps owing to the relatively small scale of the old city, the “North” and “South” churches are actually only separated by a single city block, although as time went on it was doctrine rather than distance that distinguished one from the other, with the South Church becoming Unitarian, while the North Church remained more conservative in its theology.  The congregation has met at this site in Market Square since 1712, and over the years this area became the main commercial center of the city.  Some of the oldest surviving commercial buildings in the city can be seen from in front of the church in this post.

The other prominent historical building is the National Block, on the far right side of the photos.  It was built in 1878 by Frank Jones, a mayor, Congressman, and businessman who also owned the Rockingham Hotel, the Hotel Wentworth, and the humbly-named Frank Jones Brewery.  When the first photo was taken, the first floor of the National Block was used by both the Granite State Fire Insurance Company, with the Odd Fellows occupying the upper floors.  Since then, the interior has since been extensively renovated, but its exterior appearance is largely unchanged, and its style has been imitated in the modern commercial buildings between the National Block and the church.

Stone Church, Portsmouth, NH

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The Stone Church at the corner of State Street and Court Place in Portsmouth, around 1905-1915. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The church in 2015:

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Portsmouth’s South Church was established in 1713, and like many other churches in New England in the early 19th century, they became a Unitarian church under the pastorate of Dr. Nathan Parker in 1819.  Construction on this stone church began five years later, and it was completed in 1826.  The design reflects the popular Greek Revival style of the era, with a portico supported by pillars at the front entrance.  Most of the churches built in this style were either wood, such as the 1819 Old First Church in Springfield; or brick, as seen in the 1807 First Church of Christ in Hartford.  Here in Portsmouth, the South Church was built of stone, which was not as common in early 19th century New England churches as it would be later in the century.  However, there were some that were built with stone, including the 1828 United First Parish Church in Quincy, Massachusetts, which may have been partly based on the plans for this church.

Today, the church is a Unitarian Universalist church, having merged with Portsmouth’s Universalist congregation in the 1940s.  The stone walls are no longer covered in ivy, but otherwise this scene hasn’t changed much.  The church was extensively restored in the 1980s, and today even the fence surrounding the building and the archway over the main gate are still there, as is the brick building on the left-hand side of the photo.

St. John’s Church, Portsmouth, NH

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St. John’s Church, on Chapel Street in Portsmouth, around 1902. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The church in 2015:

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This site on Chapel Street has been home to an Episcopalian church in Portsmouth since 1732, when the prosperous port’s growing English population called for an Anglican church.  Named Queen’s Chapel, it was established on the same spot as the present building.  During the American Revolution the unpopularity of the Anglican church in the colonies meant that no regular services were held here until 1786, but three years later George Washington attended the church during his visit to Portsmouth.  The old church burned in 1806, in one of several disastrous fires that swept the city in the first two decades of the 19th century, and the present-day building opened in 1808.

Although George Washington obviously never worshiped in this particular building, it has had some notable guests over the years, including James Monroe and Daniel Webster.  In addition, the funeral of Admiral David Farragut, a prominent Civil War naval officer, was held here.  The exterior of the church has been well preserved over the years, and aside from a new parish house to the right of the church, not much has changed since the 1902 photo was taken.  The church is still an active congregation, and is the oldest Episcopalian church in the state.

Library and Baptist Church, Meredith, NH

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The Benjamin M. Smith Memorial Library and the Baptist Church, at the corner of Main Street and High Street in Meredith, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The buildings in 2015:

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Meredith’s public library is one of two buildings in the town that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It opened in 1901, and like many other public libraries of the era it was donated by a wealthy philanthropist, Benjamin M. Smith of Beverly, Massachusetts.  He had once lived in Meredith, and had the library built in memory of his parents, John and Mary Smith. Over the past century, the Main Street facade has been virtually unchanged, although in 1988 a large addition was put on to the building to the right.  This addition block the view of the Baptist Church from this angle, except for the top of the spire.  The church is actually much older than the library; it was built in 1834, and today it continues to be used by the First Baptist Church of Meredith.

Church and Courthouse, Plymouth NH

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The Congregational Church and Courthouse in Plymouth, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The buildings in 2018:

Plymouth was founded in 1763, and just a year later the first church was established.  The church building in the first photo was the congregation’s third building, and was completed in 1837.  It was built right next to the courthouse, which at the time was a brick Greek Revival style building with pillars at the front entrance and a cupola on the roof.  This building had been built in 1823 to replace the original county courthouse, but was demolished by 1890, when the courthouse in the first photo was built.  The original 1774 courthouse can actually be seen in the first photo – it is the one story wooden building directly behind and to the right of the courthouse.  It had been moved there in the 1870s to use as a public library, and it remains there today.

Today, the buildings are partially obscured by trees, so it is hard to tell that the present-day church isn’t the same one. The 1837 church burned in 1983, and was rebuilt on the same foundation.  The 1890 courthouse is still there, but its use has changed.  Other than the tower now being enclosed, the exterior does not appear to have changed much over the past century, but the historic building is now the Plymouth town hall, and the grounds now include monuments to veterans of wars that had not yet been fought when the first photo was taken.

Main Street, Center Harbor, NH

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Looking northeast on Main Street in Center Harbor, with Red Hill in the distance, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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Main Street in 2015:

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This scene was taken just up the road from the photos in this post; note the Center Harbor Congregational Church, which can be seen in the distance there and on the left here.  The church was built in 1838 and has stood there ever since, overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee.  The cemetery across the street is also still there, and if it wasn’t for the trees in the first photo, the Colonial Hotel would be visible beyond the cemetery on the right.  In the background of both photos is Red Hill, which rises 1500 feet above Lake Winnipesaukee and offers dramatic views of the surrounding landscape.

Over the years, the roads here have changed a bit.  In the 1906 photo, Main Street was the primary route from Meredith to Center Harbor, Moultonborough, and points north.  Today, most of this traffic travels on Route 25, which can be seen on the far right of the 2015 photo.  It is named the Whittier Highway, after poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who used to vacation in Center Harbor in the late 1800s.  Built parallel to Main Street, it cuts across the area where the Colonial Hotel once stood and allows through traffic to bypass much of the center of the village.