{"nrhp_refnum":"75000251","name":"First Baptist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"149 William St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Bedford","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.635139620000075,"lon":-70.92832897199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-04-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story white clapboard Greek Revival church at 149 William Street in downtown New Bedford, Massachusetts, built in 1829, with a three-stage steeple and a brick education building added in 1928.","why_significant":"The church is an early example of Greek Revival church architecture, and its steeple served as a landfall for returning whaling ships and appears in the 1847 city seal. The congregation took part in the anti-slavery movement in the 1860s. Member Henry Martyn Robert wrote Robert's Rules of Order after a chaotic meeting there.","narrative":"Built in 1829 at 149 William Street in downtown New Bedford, this two-story white clapboard church is an early example of Greek Revival design. It sits on a high stone foundation, with a gable facing the street, six paneled pilasters, a Doric entablature with triglyphs and metopes, and a modillioned pediment. A three-stage steeple rises above the facade. A vestibule and iron fencing were added in 1856, the interior was reversed in 1841, and a brick education building was added at the rear in 1928. The windows still hold original hand-blown glass. The steeple towered over mid-nineteenth-century New Bedford, guided whaling ships returning to port, and appears in the city seal designed in 1847. Congregation members supported the anti-slavery cause in the early 1860s under Reverend John Girdwood. Lieutenant Henry Martyn Robert, a trustee from 1862 to 1865, grew frustrated with a disorderly meeting on the port's defense there, which led to Robert's Rules of Order, published in 1876.","period_of_significance":"1829","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use as a church; exterior in fair condition and interior in excellent condition at the time of nomination. The form says it has been altered and will regain prominence when restored.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.970173-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/2/7944/63794402/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75000251.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000251/a3dfb2571a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000251/a3dfb2571a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Baptist_New_Bedford.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Baptist_New_Bedford.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"76000229","name":"County Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/county-street-historic-district-76000229/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794402","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Baptist_Church_(New_Bedford,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5452415"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/first-baptist-church-75000251/"}