{"nrhp_refnum":"07001400","name":"North Rochester Congregational Church","other_names":["Third Parish","Congregational Precinct Rochester, Middleborough, Freetown"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"289 North Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rochester","county":"Plymouth County","state":"MA","lat":41.782522261000054,"lon":-70.89375602599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-03-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Religion","Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1½-story wood-frame Greek Revival church built in 1841 at 289 North Avenue in rural North Rochester, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, on a one-acre lot used by the parish since 1790.","why_significant":"The building is the second meetinghouse on a site that has been the religious and social center of this rural neighborhood since 1790. It retains its 1841 form, including its box pews and rear gallery. The form also notes its role in the parish's long struggle to survive and its revival by neighbors and the historical society from 1990.","narrative":"North Rochester Congregational Church is a small wooden Greek Revival meetinghouse built in 1841 on North Avenue in the rural northwest corner of Rochester, Massachusetts. It measures about 37 by 45 feet and has a gable front with a pediment, Doric pilasters, a square belfry and tall 18-over-18 windows. Inside, it keeps its rear gallery and box pews, though the number of pews has been reduced over time. The church sits on a one-acre lot that has served as the parish's religious and social center since 1790, when the first meetinghouse was built there. Two stone walls on the lot, one the remnant of a carriage barn, are counted as contributing structures. The congregation declined in the twentieth century and closed in 1970 or 1971. Neighbors and the historical society restored it in 1990, and it was moved fifteen feet onto a new foundation in 1992-93. A replica belfry was added in 2003.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mid 19th Century: Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by its congregation and generally in good condition; reopened in 1990 after about two decades closed, and moved fifteen feet onto a new foundation in 1992-93.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.485693-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/7965/63796574/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/07001400.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001400/5ca1b0cef0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001400/5ca1b0cef0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Schlitzer90","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_Rochester_Congregational_Church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Schlitzer90</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_Rochester_Congregational_Church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796574","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Rochester_Congregational_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715786"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/plymouth-county/north-rochester-congregational-church-07001400/"}