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First Congregational Church

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1862–1864; 1989–1990 addition, Architecture + Design. 341 S. Main St.
  • (Photograph by Kathryn Bishop Eckert)
  • (Photograph by Kathryn Bishop Eckert)

Reminiscent of Congregational meetinghouses of New England, the simple, vernacular, wood church was built in 1862–1864 on the village square by the congregation founded by Vermont settlers. The gable-front rectangular building has a projecting single square entrance tower and steeple terminating in an octagonal spire. A whisper of medieval verticality is exhibited in the attenuated windows and in the buttresses that are placed at the front corners. The round-arched windows reflect the trend in the Congregational Church during the 1850s and 1860s to favor Romanesque.

The addition to the rear holds an education wing and a combined fellowship hall and classrooms and links to the historic church. The application of aluminum exterior siding compromises the historic character.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Kathryn Bishop Eckert
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Data

What's Nearby

Vermontville Museum (Vermontville First Congregational Chapel and Academy)
Vermontville Opera House
Liebhauser Twelve-Sided Barn (Round Barn)

Citation

Kathryn Bishop Eckert, "First Congregational Church", [Vermontville, Michigan], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MI-01-EA7.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Michigan

Buildings of Michigan, Kathryn Bishop Eckert. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, 304-304.

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