{"nrhp_refnum":"83000823","name":"Pleasant Street Congregational Church","other_names":["Orthodox Congregational Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"75 Pleasant St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Arlington","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.41389627800004,"lon":-71.15583753299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-06-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A wood-frame Greek Revival church at 75 Pleasant Street, at the corner of Maple Street, in Arlington, Massachusetts. It was built in 1844 and dedicated on November 29, 1844, by a congregation that split from the town's First Parish.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is a distinctive local example of Greek Revival church architecture, one of few major buildings of that style left in Arlington. It also has rarely used Egyptian Revival detailing. It is the only early church in town still occupied by its original congregation, and it reflects Arlington's 19th-century growth.","narrative":"Built in 1844 at the corner of Pleasant and Maple Streets in Arlington, this wood-frame church was raised by a small group of conservative worshippers who broke away from the town's First Parish and called themselves Orthodox Congregationalists. Joseph Sanger was the churchwright; it is not known whether he also designed it. The white clapboard building has a pedimented entrance pavilion and a three-stage tower. Its trim is mostly Greek Revival, but a pair of fluted Egyptian Revival columns gives the facade an unusual accent. The spire has been replaced several times, after the 1871 cyclone and the 1938 hurricane, with the present one dating from 1964. The rear was lengthened in 1883, and a brick parish house was added in 1955. The church is valued as a local example of Greek Revival design and as the only early Arlington church still held by its original congregation, which later became known for community service programs.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Joseph Sanger (Contractor)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival with Egyptian Revival detailing","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in religious use by the congregation; the exterior is described as substantially as first built, with a 1964 replacement spire and a 1955 parish house.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.495177-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/35/7960/63796035/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000823.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000823/eaae47c19c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000823/eaae47c19c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pleasant_Street_Congregational_Church,_ArlingtonMA_-_IMG_2745.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pleasant_Street_Congregational_Church,_ArlingtonMA_-_IMG_2745.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"85002691","name":"Arlington Center Historic District (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/arlington-center-historic-district-boundary-increase-85002691/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796035","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasant_Street_Congregational_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7203969"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/pleasant-street-congregational-church-83000823/"}