First Free Will Baptist Church and Vestry

Historic church in New Hampshire, United States

United States historic place

First Free Will Baptist Church and Vestry

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

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Location| 57 Main St.,
Ashland, New Hampshire
Coordinates| 43°41′42″N 71°37′59″W﻿ / ﻿43.69500°N 71.63306°W﻿ / 43.69500; -71.63306
Area| less than one acre
Built| 1834 (1834)
Architectural style| Late Victorian
NRHP reference No.| 83001140[1]
Added to NRHP| April 8, 1983

The First Free Will Baptist Church (also known Miss Perkins' High School and Holderness Academy) are a historic Free Will Baptist Church complex in Ashland, New Hampshire. The complex consists of three buildings: the brick church building, which was built in 1834; the old vestry, a brick building standing near the street which was built c. 1835 as a school and converted to a vestry in 1878; and the new vestry, a wooden structure added in 1899 to join the two brick buildings together. The church, a fine vernacular Federal style building when it was built, had its interior extensively restyled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[2] The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983,[1] primarily as a good example of modest Victorian church architecture. It now houses the Ashland Community Church.

## Description and history

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The First Free Will Baptist Church stands in the village of Ashland, on the south side of Main Street (United States Route 3) between Water and Pleasant Streets. The church, a single-story brick building, stands atop a knoll that overlooks the center of the village. It is covered by a gabled roof oriented with the ridge parallel to the street, with a steepled tower and main entrance at the eastern end. The old vestry is a 2-1/2 story brick building, whose gabled roof is placed gable-end to the street. It has a three-bay facade with the entrance at the center, framed by sidelight and transom windows. The new vestry is built against the rears of these two buildings.[2]

A Free Will Baptist congregation was established in what is today Ashland in 1818, when it was still part of Holderness. By 1830, the congregation had grown large enough to warrant a dedicated sanctuary, which was built in 1834. Details of its original form are sketchy, because it underwent a series of alterations to both its exterior and interior between 1872 and 1915. These rendered the building into one that is essentially entirely Late Victorian in character, with arched stained glass windows, shingling in the tower stages, and other features reflective of that period. The old vestry was built about 1835, and is typical of period academy buildings. This one was used to house a school and the vestry, the latter use in exchange for its siting on church-owned land. The academy building was purchased outright by the church in 1878, and the new vestry building was added in 1899.[2]

## See also

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* National Register of Historic Places listings in Grafton County, New Hampshire

## References

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1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
2. ^ a b c "NRHP nomination for First Free Will Baptist Church and Vestry". National Park Service. Retrieved 2014-03-24.

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National Register of Historic Places in Grafton County, New Hampshire

National Historic
Landmark|

* The Epic of American Civilization Murals

Historic districts|

* Ashland Gristmill and Dam
* Canaan Street Historic District
* Central Square Historic District
* Colburn Park Historic District
* Dorchester Common Historic District
* Enfield Shaker Historic District
* Enfield Village Historic District
* Haverhill Corner Historic District
* Hebron Village Historic District
* Lyme Center Historic District
* Lyme Common Historic District
* Orford Street Historic District
* Plymouth Historic District
* Shepard Hill Historic District
* True Farm
* Webster Estate

Historic properties|

* Abbie Greenleaf Library
* Ashland Junior High School
* Ashland Railroad Station
* Bath Covered Bridge
* Bedell Covered Bridge‡
* Boulderwood
* Brick Store
* Bristol Town Hall
* Burleigh Brae and Webster Boathouse
* Burt–Cheney Farm
* Camp Carnes
* Camp Mowglis
* Camp Ossipee
* Canaan Meetinghouse
* Centre Village Meeting House
* Chapel of the Holy Cross
* Chocorua Island Chapel
* Daniel Carr House
* Dorchester Community Church
* Dow Academy
* Edward H. Lane House
* Enfield Center Town House
* Felsengarten
* First Free Will Baptist Church and Vestry
* Frost Place
* Goodall-Woods Law Office
* Great Hollow Road Stone Arch Bridge
* Hanover Town Library
* Haverhill–Bath Covered Bridge
* Hewitt House
* Holderness Free Library
* Holderness Inn
* Jeremiah Hutchins Tavern
* Lisbon Inn
* Littleton Town Building
* Lovett's by Lafayette Brook
* Lyme–East Thetford Bridge‡
* Minot–Sleeper Library
* Morey Memorial Bridge‡
* Moses Kent House
* Norman and Marion Perry House
* North Holderness Freewill Baptist Church–Holderness Historical Society Building
* Old Grafton County Courthouse
* Owls Head
* Piermont Bridge‡
* The Rocks
* Rockywold–Deephaven Camps
* Sawyer–Medlicott House
* Sphinx Tomb
* Spring Hill Farm
* St. Mark's Episcopal Church
* Stone Arch Underpass
* Swiftwater Covered Bridge
* Thayer's Hotel
* Trinity Church
* US Post Office and Courthouse–Littleton Main
* Watch Rock Camp
* Whipple House
* Woodsville Opera Building

Footnotes|

‡This historic property also has portions in an adjacent state.

See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Grafton County, New Hampshire and List of National Historic Landmarks in New Hampshire
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