Old South Union Church

Old South Union Church, at 25 Columbian Street in South Weymouth, is a clapboard Congregational church built in 1853 at the civic center of the village, facing Columbian Square. Its rectangular main block combines Italianate details, such as paired eaves brackets, corner quoins and tall arched windows with drip moldings, with a more severely Greek Revival central pavilion framed by panelled Doric pilasters and a pediment. A three-stage tower rises above, with clocks on the square base, octagonal upper stages with arched openings and small oculi, and an octagonal wooden spire. Inside are a coved ceiling, a balustraded choir loft and white-painted panelled benches with mahogany finials. The congregation dates to 1723, when the South Weymouth parish separated from the distant First Church at North Weymouth, and this is its third meetinghouse. The church was recognized for illustrating a mid-century shift in style, and the unknown builder's bold proportions and clean surfaces, especially in the tower, show a sophisticated sense of design.