National Register of Historic Places

Second Unitarian Church

Brookline, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Listed
October 16, 1985
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
85003315

About this property

The Second Unitarian Church is a historic church and synagogue building at 11 Charles Street in Brookline, Massachusetts. Built in 1916 for a Unitarian congregation, it was acquired by the innovative Reform Jewish Temple Sinai congregation in 1944. It is a high quality example of Colonial Revival/Georgian Revival architecture, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The Temple Sinai building is located on the north side of Charles Street, a side street just south of Beacon Street on the west side of Coolidge Corner. The building's lot originally fronted on Beacon Street, but has been subdivided. The building is a two-story brick structure, with a front-facing gable roof, Greek temple portico, and tower with octagonal cupola. The building corners have brick quoining, and it has round-arch windows capped by limestone keystones. The building was erected in 1916 by the Second Unitarian Church, a congregation established in 1896 that had been meeting at a shared chapel in the Longwood area. The building was designed by Boston architect Edwin J. Lewis Jr., and is based on the Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1944 the building was purchased by Temple Sinai, a Reform Jewish congregation established in 1939. That congregation was the first new Reform congregation to be founded in the Greater Boston area in 84 years, and is credited with introducing a number of changes to the worship and governance practices of Reform congregations, including equal seating for all congregants, and the right of women to vote in its organization. National Register of Historic Places listings in Brookline, Massachusetts

Location

11 Charles St.
Brookline, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
42.34217, -71.11897

Categories

ARCHITECTURERELIGION
National Register nomination ›
Sources

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.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Linden Park
Industrial
0.1 mi
Murphy, William, House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Richmond Court
Listed
0.2 mi
Milestone
Listed
0.2 mi
Arcade Building
Civil War
0.2 mi

Nearby Battles

Siege of Boston – Roxbury Lines
1775Revolutionary War
1.2 mi
Siege of Boston – Cambridge Lines
1775Revolutionary War
2.2 mi

Questions about this property

When was Second Unitarian Church listed on the National Register?

Second Unitarian Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 16, 1985.

What type of historic resource is Second Unitarian Church?

Second Unitarian Church is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Second Unitarian Church?

The period of significance for Second Unitarian Church is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Second Unitarian Church?

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