The old meeting house of the First Church of Monson, seen around 1860-1871. Image courtesy of the Monson Free Library.
The church in 2015:
The First Church of Monson was established in 1762, and the first photo here shows its second meeting house, which was completed in 1803. The building stood here on High Street, overlooking downtown Monson, until 1871, when it was moved across Main Street and the present-day church was built. Its time in use coincided with the lengthy pastorate of Alfred Ely, who served as the pastor of the church for 60 years, from 1806 until 1866. After the building was moved, it was converted into stores on the first floor and a meeting hall on the upper floor, named Green’s Hall. It can be seen in the c.1892 photo in this post, but it burned down in 1895. The church building that replaced it, though, it still standing over 140 years later, and aside from having its steeple replaced twice, it looks essentially the same as it did when it was completed in 1873.