United First Parish Church

{{short description|Historic church in Massachusetts, United States}}

{{For|the church also called the "Church of the Presidents"|Church of the Presidents (New Jersey)}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = United First Parish Church (Unitarian) of Quincy

| nrhp_type = nhl

| image = United First Parish Church, Quincy, MA enhanced with dramatic sky.jpg

| caption = The United First Parish Church, Quincy, Massachusetts

| location = 1306 Hancock Street, Quincy, Massachusetts

| coordinates = {{coord|42|15|4|N|71|0|11|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Massachusetts#USA

| built = 1828

| architect = Parris, Alexander

| architecture = Greek Revival

| designated_nrhp_type = December 30, 1970

| added = December 30, 1970

| refnum = 70000734{{NRISref|2007a}}

}}

File:Graves of the Adams, Quincy, Massachusetts.JPG (left) and John Quincy Adams (right) and their wives, Abigail Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams, in a family crypt beneath the church]]

United First Parish Church is an American Unitarian Universalist congregation in Quincy, Massachusetts, established as the parish church of Quincy in 1639. The current building was constructed in 1828 by Boston stonecutter Abner Joy to designs by Alexander Parris. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 30, 1970, for its association with the Adams family, who funded its construction; four members of the family are buried there.

United First Parish Church is called the Church of the Presidents because two American Presidents, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, attended the church along with their wives, Abigail Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams. All four are buried beneath the church in a family crypt. Pew number 54, used by John Quincy Adams and his family, is marked with a plaque and ribbon on the side.

History

The congregation first gathered in 1636 as a branch of the church in Boston, becoming an independent church in 1639, known simply as "Ye Church of Braintry," because the whole area was then known as Braintree. It was a Puritan Congregationalist church when first established. In the mid-18th century it became Unitarian, and then Unitarian Universalist in the 20th century.

The 1828 church is constructed of locally quarried granite, and is one of the finest Greek Revival church buildings in New England. It has a Greek temple front, supported by four monolithic granite columns which may have been the largest set in the United States at the time. Each column is {{convert|25|ft|m}} tall and weighs an estimated 25 tons. Above the main facade rises a two-stage tower. Its lower section is oblong and unadorned, while the second stage is stepped back and square. It has clock faces on each side, and is topped by an open cupola with eight columns and a dome.{{cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=70000734}}|title=NHL nomination for United First Parish Church|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2014-06-09}}

President John Adams financed the church's construction through a land donation, and the bulk of the granite comes from the Adams family quarry. However, the pillars are from another local quarry, as the Adams quarry was not deep enough for a full-height pillar. Its original bell was cast by Paul Revere, but was melted down and recast as it was not loud enough to serve as a fire alarm. The unusual domed ceiling represents a passion flower surrounded by lotuses. The fine mahogany altar is original.

Adams' gravesite

Both John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams, together with their first ladies, Abigail Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams, are buried in a family vault in the church's basement. Only one other church in the United States contains a presidential tomb: the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., where the remains of President Woodrow Wilson and First Lady Edith Wilson are interred.

Prison Book Program

Since 2004, the United First Parish Church has hosted the Prison Book Program in the church basement. The origins of the PBP started in 1972, in the Red Book Store Collective in Cambridge, where it disseminated progressive literature, and advocated for the well being of prisoners. It was influential in creating a legal primer, and prison resource list that prisoners can request by letter, along with the other works of literature the PBP offers. The PBP is not associated with the UFPC and is a secular organization, however the UFPC supports the work the PBP does.{{cite web | url=https://prisonbookprogram.org/about/our-story/ | title=Our Story – Prison Book Program }}

File:United First Parish Church, Quincy, MA.jpg|The church as depicted in a c. 1851–1854 engraving

File:United First Parish Church (interior), Quincy, Massachusetts.JPG|2005 view of the interior and its decorative plaster domed ceiling

File:United First Parish Church of Quincy, MA view from gallery.png|View from gallery

References

{{Commons category|United First Parish Church (Unitarian) of Quincy}}

External links

[http://www.ufpc.org United First Parish Church website]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060213130225/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1008&ResourceType=Building United First Parish Church (Unitarian) Of Quincy's National Historic Landmark summary description]
[http://div.hds.harvard.edu/library/bms/bms00162.2.html Historical records] for the United First Parish Church are in the Andover-Harvard Theological Library at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

{{List of Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist churches|state=collapsed}}

Category:National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts

Category:Churches in Quincy, Massachusetts

Category:Churches completed in 1827

Category:19th-century Unitarian Universalist church buildings

Category:Unitarian Universalist churches in Massachusetts

Category:Religious organizations established in the 1630s

Category:Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts

Category:Stone churches in Massachusetts

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Quincy, Massachusetts

Category:Presidential churches in the United States

Category:Adams National Historical Park