Old Ship Meetinghouse
About this property
The Old Ship Church (also known as the Old Ship Meetinghouse) is a Puritan church built in 1681 in Hingham, Massachusetts. It is the only surviving 17th-century Puritan meetinghouse in the United States. Its congregation, gathered in 1635 and officially known as First Parish in Hingham, occupies the oldest church building in continuous ecclesiastical use in the country. On October 9, 1960, it was designated a National Historic Landmark, and on November 15, 1966, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Old Ship Church is, according to The New York Times, "the oldest continuously worshiped-in church in North America and the only surviving example in this country of the English Gothic style of the 17th century. The more familiar delicately spired white Colonial churches of New England would not be built for more than half a century." Within the church, "the ceiling, made of great oak beams, looks like the inverted frame of a ship", notes The Washington Post. "Built in 1681, it is the oldest church in continuous use as a house of worship in North America." The most distinctive feature of the structure is its hammerbeam roof, a Gothic open timber construction, the most well-known example being that of Westminster Hall. Some of those working on the soaring structure were no doubt ship carpenters; others were East Anglians familiar with the method of constructing a hammerbeam roof.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Old Ship Meetinghouse
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Questions about this property
When was Old Ship Meetinghouse listed on the National Register?
Old Ship Meetinghouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 14, 1966.
What type of historic resource is Old Ship Meetinghouse?
Old Ship Meetinghouse is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
Is Old Ship Meetinghouse a National Historic Landmark?
Yes. Old Ship Meetinghouse has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.
What is the period of significance for Old Ship Meetinghouse?
The period of significance for Old Ship Meetinghouse is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Old Ship Meetinghouse?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Old Ship Meetinghouse will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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