Built 1811 (1811) Designated CP September 29, 1983 Opened 1811 Added to NRHP 3 September 1976 | NRHP Reference # 76000140 Address Chelsea, VT 05038, USA Area 3,642 m² Architect Asher Benjamin | |
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Location Chelsea Green, Chelsea, Vermont Part of Chelsea Village Historic District (#83003212) Architectural style Greek Revival architecture Similar Great Smoky Mountains, Shelburne Farms, Great Smoky Mountain, American Precision Museum, ECHO Lake Aquarium | ||
The United Church of Chelsea, previously the Congregational Church of Chelsea, is a historic church on Chelsea Green in Chelsea, Vermont. Built 1811-13 with later stylistic additions, it is a fine example of Federal period architecture with Greek Revival alterations. Originally built for a Congregationalist group, it now serves as a union church, affiliated with the United Church of Christ. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Description and history
The United Church of Chelsea stands in the center of Chelsea Village, at the eastern end of its northern green. It is a two-story wood frame structure, with a gabled roof, clapboarded exterior, and granite foundation. The main facade is five bays wide, with the center bays in shallow projecting section topped by a lower gable. Building corners are pilastered, rising to a broad entablature. A multistage tower rises, straddling the projection and main roofline, with a square first stage surmounted by a low balustrade, an octagonal belfry with louvered openings on four sides, and a smaller octagonal section capped by a bellcast roof and weathervane. The interior was originally built with a three-sided gallery, but this was enclosed to make a full second story in the 1840s as part of a major restyling.
Built in 1811-13 as the Chelsea Congregational Church, it has since then been a high-profile fixture in Chelsea's village. Its design is derived from plates in Asher Benjamin's The Architect's Companion, with major Greek Revival additions occurring in 1848. The Congregationalists merged with the local Methodist congregation in 1929 to form the United Church, which continues to use the building today.