Dorchester Illustration no. 2488 First Parish Church in 1743
In 1630, on the eve of the ship Mary and John sailing from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the First Parish Church congregation was formed.
After their arrival in early June of 1630, the new settlers built houses for themselves and a meeting house for worship. The first building was located near the intersection of Pleasant, Pond and Cottage Streets, and it was replaced by a new building in 1645 at the same location. This meeting house was moved by oxen to Meeting-House Hill, to a location on the east side of Winter Street, in 1670. In 1678 a new larger meeting house was built on the northwest corner of Church and Winter Streets.
In 1743 a new meeting-house was built on what is now the Town Common. The eastern entrance was about where the Soldiers Monument now stands. The building was 68 feet long, 46 feet wide, 104 feet to the top of the weathervane. This is the building pictured in today’s image.
The building was enlarged in 1795, and then replaced in 1816 in the location where the current First Parish Church now stands. The 1816 church last until 1896,when it burned and was replaced the following year by the building we know today.