[MassHistPres] Old Town Halls

[Anne Forbes]

To follow the message below with another FYI, that great disentanglement of 
church and government that took place in the early 1830s also seems to have 
been responsible for the "raising up" of so many churches and the 
construction of a vestry or meeting hall underneath the sanctuary.  The 
double impact of the proliferation of denominations within a community and 
the ending of tax support for the "town" church meant that many 
congregations had to raise more money than their members could provide. 
While it was frowned upon to rent out the worship space for secular 
purposes, the vestries were leased for gatherings and meetings by all manner 
of groups and private citizens, and at times (in the towns that hadn't yet 
built town houses with meeting rooms) by the town for town meetings.  Church 
account books of the time make fascinating reading on the subject!


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sarah Zimmerman" <szimmerman at historicnewengland.org>
To: <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>; "McArdle, Alan H." <ahmcardle at gmail.com>; 
"'Tucker, Jonathan'" <TuckerJ at amherstma.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 4:05 PM
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Old Town Halls


> Just fyi, when the Congregational church was officially disestablished
> in Massachusetts in 1833, lots of towns whose town meetings had taken
> place in the meeting house required new public spaces in which
> governmental functions could take place.  I think this is one reason for
> a rash of town halls, or houses, being built in the 1830s and 1840s.
> Sally Zimmerman
> Historic New England
>
>>>> "Alan H. McArdle" <ahmcardle at gmail.com> 12/12/2007 3:51 pm >>>
> Thanks to everyone who responded to my query. The MACRIS link worked
> very
> nicely. I had thought of that but hadn't got to the point of figuring
> out
> the query.
>
> It looks like the 1830's and 1840's saw a big boom in building things
> labeled town halls. Whately seems to have built its town hall about
> midway
> through the period. It looks like there are about 40 or 45 towns with
> older
> buildings than ours but most are at only about 10 years older. Pelham
> looks
> like it has the oldest.
>
> Alan McArdle, Chair
> Whately Historic Commission
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Tucker, Jonathan [mailto:TuckerJ at amherstma.gov]
>> Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 3:06 PM
>> To: Alan H. McArdle; masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
>> Subject: RE: [MassHistPres] Old Town Halls
>>
>> Pelham's Old Meeting House is still used and dates from 1743.
>>
>
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> Preservation of New England Antiquities, is the oldest and largest
> regional preservation organization in the country.
> ******************************
> For administrative questions regarding this list, please contact 
> Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us directly.  PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY" TO THE 
> WHOLE LIST.
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sarah Zimmerman" <szimmerman at historicnewengland.org>
To: <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>; "McArdle, Alan H." <ahmcardle at gmail.com>; 
"'Tucker, Jonathan'" <TuckerJ at amherstma.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 4:05 PM
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Old Town Halls


> Just fyi, when the Congregational church was officially disestablished
> in Massachusetts in 1833, lots of towns whose town meetings had taken
> place in the meeting house required new public spaces in which
> governmental functions could take place.  I think this is one reason for
> a rash of town halls, or houses, being built in the 1830s and 1840s.
> Sally Zimmerman
> Historic New England
>
>>>> "Alan H. McArdle" <ahmcardle at gmail.com> 12/12/2007 3:51 pm >>>
> Thanks to everyone who responded to my query. The MACRIS link worked
> very
> nicely. I had thought of that but hadn't got to the point of figuring
> out
> the query.
>
> It looks like the 1830's and 1840's saw a big boom in building things
> labeled town halls. Whately seems to have built its town hall about
> midway
> through the period. It looks like there are about 40 or 45 towns with
> older
> buildings than ours but most are at only about 10 years older. Pelham
> looks
> like it has the oldest.
>
> Alan McArdle, Chair
> Whately Historic Commission
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Tucker, Jonathan [mailto:TuckerJ at amherstma.gov]
>> Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 3:06 PM
>> To: Alan H. McArdle; masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
>> Subject: RE: [MassHistPres] Old Town Halls
>>
>> Pelham's Old Meeting House is still used and dates from 1743.
>>
>
> ******************************
> For administrative questions regarding this list, please contact
> Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us directly.  PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY" TO THE
> WHOLE LIST.
> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres
> ********************************
>
> Bid now at Historic New England's online auction! You'll find many
> wonderful items, and support one important cause. Visit
> http://www.historicnewengland.org
> Historic New England, founded in 1910 as the Society for the
> Preservation of New England Antiquities, is the oldest and largest
> regional preservation organization in the country.
> ******************************
> For administrative questions regarding this list, please contact 
> Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us directly.  PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY" TO THE 
> WHOLE LIST.
> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres
> ********************************
>