First Baptist Church in Swansea

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First Baptist Church in Swansea
Swansea First Baptist.jpg
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Location21 Baptist St.,
Swansea, Massachusetts
Coordinates 41°46′16″N71°16′9″W / 41.77111°N 71.26917°W / 41.77111; -71.26917
Built1848
Architectural styleGreek Revival
MPS Swansea MRA
NRHP reference No. 90000060 [1]
Added to NRHPFebruary 16, 1990

The First Baptist Church in Swansea is a historic Baptist church in the town of Swansea, Massachusetts. The church, established in 1663, with history going back to 1649, is the oldest Baptist congregation in Massachusetts and one of the oldest in the United States.

Contents

History

The congregation was founded in 1649, in Wales, by the Puritan Baptist minister John Myles. Myles brought the Ilston Book with him from Swansea, Wales, and fled to Massachusetts with the Ilston congregation, in 1662, becoming the first Baptist church in Massachusetts, in 1663. The congregation in Swansea, Massachusetts, was located relatively nearby the First Baptist Church of Providence, in Rhode Island.

Building

The current Greek Revival chapel was constructed in 1848 and is the fifth building occupied by the congregation. The adjacent cemetery dates to 1731. The building and cemetery were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. [2]

See also

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. "Rev. John Myles and the founding of the first Baptist church in Massachusetts : An historical address delivered at the dedication of a monument in Barrington, Rhode Island (Formerly Swansea, Mass.) June 17, 1905". 1905.