{"nrhp_refnum":"88001091","name":"First Unitarian Church","other_names":["Park Square Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"7 Park St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Peabody","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.524515852000036,"lon":-70.92662127499995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-09-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A former Unitarian church at 7 Park Street (Park Square) in Peabody, Essex County, Massachusetts, built in 1826 as a Greek Revival meeting house and remodeled in the Italianate style in 1872.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is historically tied to the growth of Unitarianism in Peabody and the North Shore well into the 20th century. It is also significant architecturally for its Greek Revival and Italianate detailing. It is described as the oldest surviving ecclesiastical building in Peabody.","narrative":"Built in 1826 at Park Square in Peabody, this wooden church began as a classic New England meeting house with a temple front and a three-stage steeple. A Unitarian congregation formed in 1825 and paid for it through pew subscriptions, with local tanning merchants among its supporters. A chapel was added at the rear in 1868-69, and in 1872 a costly renovation recast the building in the Italianate style, adding a sculptural entry porch, enclosing the original portico and rebuilding the interior. A small north porch followed in 1927, and a 1939 restoration gave the exterior its white meetinghouse look. As Peabody's population changed, the congregation shrank, merged with Universalists, and moved to a new church in Danvers in 1967. The upper steeple was then removed, and the empty building has since deteriorated. It is considered significant for its link to local Unitarian history and as the oldest surviving church building in Peabody.","period_of_significance":"1826-1939","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival; Italianate","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Vacated in 1967 when the congregation moved to Danvers; the steeple's upper stages were removed and the interior has suffered water damage. Current function is listed as multiple dwelling, condominiums.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.939703-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/4/7950/63795004/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/88001091.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88001091/61a0246ca4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88001091/61a0246ca4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Unitarian_Church,_Peabody_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Unitarian_Church,_Peabody_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795004","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Unitarian_Church_(Peabody,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453943"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/first-unitarian-church-88001091/"}