Built 1887 NRHP Reference # 75000954 Opened 1887 | Built by Charles W. McCauley Designated MSHS April 4, 1975 Added to NRHP 6 December 1975 | |
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Location 69619 Parker, Richmond, Michigan Architectural style Gothic Revival architecture Similar Agecroft Hall, Branch House, Virginia Holocaust Museum, Monroe Park, Maggie L Walker National | ||
The First Congregational Church, currently known as the Richmond Center for the Performing Arts, is a church building located at 69619 Parker in Richmond, Michigan, and is the oldest public building in the city. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1975.
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History
In 1871, a group of Richmond settlers formed the First Congregational Church. The congregation's first church was built in 1872, and in 1887, the congregation hired local builder Charles W. McCauley to build a second church. In 1973, the congregation of the First Congregational Church merged with nearby St. Paul's Evangelical and Reformed Church, and the building was sold to the Richmond Community Theatre. The theatre group restored the exterior of the church, and adapted the interior for use as a theatre. As of 2011, the building houses the Richmond Center for the Performing Arts and is administered by the Richmond Board of Education.
Description
Richmond's First Congregational Church is a Gothic Revival structure constructed of red brick on a fieldstone foundation. The front facade is asymmetrical, with a square tower with wooden belfry standing to one side of the entrance. Stepped buttresses and lancet windows containing tracery decorate the exterior, making the building a significant and well-reserved example of 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture.