Greenwood Union Church

History and description

The early beginnings of the Greenwood Union Church can be traced through historical records to the mid-1850s when the Sunday School was organized under the leadership of Henry Degan. The founders met in the unoccupied room of the Greenwood School house (also referred to as the old Hose House). After the First Congregational Society of Greenwood was organized in 1873, the members immediately began planning for a building of their own. When the school department needed their meeting room, they set out to find land, subsequently purchasing a lot of land from the Joseph Eaton estate on Oak Street. Architects Wait & Cutter were commissioned to design the church, and the foundation was laid in November, 1884. The street floor of the building was in use by 1885. The upper floors were not completed until 1895, with a dedication held on February 27, 1895. The Greenwood Union Church was organized on November 19, 1903. In 1907, a one-story addition provided classrooms and a two-story addition provided a 'parlor' for the Ladies' Aid society. Extensive remodeling and another addition, which extended the building 22' closer to Oak Street, began in 1920. The front of the sanctuary became the side and the new front was back to the hill. The dedication was held on April 16, 1922. In 1944, a Parish House Fund was established which resulted in the purchase of the neighboring Willard Eaton property in 1952. In January, 1956, the church secured the corner lot at Oak and Main Street for further expansion, and the cornerstone of the new building was laid on September 25, 1960. The dedication took place in March, 1961.