{"nrhp_refnum":"89001507","name":"First Parish Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"87 School St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waltham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.37834496500005,"lon":-71.23466254699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-09-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Neo-Classical church at 87 School Street in Waltham, Massachusetts, built in 1932-33 and designed by the Boston firm Allen & Collens. It faces a triangular park remnant of Waltham's first common and stands in an area of mid-19th-century houses.","why_significant":"The congregation traces its origins to the 1690s settlement-era parish, giving it strong ties to the growth of Waltham. The building is an unusual, finely detailed Neo-Classical design by a nationally known ecclesiastical architecture firm. It was rebuilt after a 1932 fire on the foundations of its predecessor.","narrative":"First Parish Church is a wood-and-steel Neo-Classical church at the corner of School and Church Streets in Waltham, overlooking a triangular remnant of the town's first common. Allen and Collens, a Boston firm with a national reputation, designed it after fire destroyed the earlier 1839 building in August 1932. The new church was dedicated in October 1933. It has a gabled four-bay nave, a bell tower fronted by a Doric portico, and a spire above an open columned belfry. Inside, coupled Tuscan columns carry a barrel-vaulted ceiling, and the chancel has a pedimented altar in an arched niche. A school wing was added in 1957 and a chapel in 1963. The congregation traces its roots to a second Watertown meetinghouse of the 1690s and the ministry of Samuel Angier. Its long history, tied to Waltham's growth, and the quality of its design account for its listing under criteria A and C.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Allen & Collens (architects); Charles Loring of Boston designed the 1957 church school addition","architectural_style":"Neo-Classical","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition described as good; in use as a church, with a church school and chapel wing added in 1957 and 1963.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.772486-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/3/7918/63791803/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001507.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001507/cb8d69eca7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001507/cb8d69eca7-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Parish_Church,_Unitarian_Universalist,_Waltham,_MA.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Parish_Church,_Unitarian_Universalist,_Waltham,_MA.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791803","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Parish_Church_(Waltham,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453482"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/first-parish-church-89001507/"}