St. Marys Orthodox/Fmr. Cambridge Universalist Church - Cambridge, MA - Relocated Structures on Waymarking.com

A white church stands on Inman Street that was once located further east on Massachusetts Avenue. I had first suspected that this church was possibly moved after seeing two entries for the "Cambridge Universalist Church" in the Geocaching.com/NGS database. Two additional sources, a historical sign on Pearl Street and the St. Mary's Orthodox Church web site, filed in the story.

On a historical station for Central Square on the Central Square Library, a branch of the Cambridge Public Library, an ink drawing of the church and other buildings and horse drawn street cars is displayed, with the following caption: "Lafayette Square, Cambridge, in 1858. The Universalist Church of 1822 was moved to Inman Street in 1888 and is now the Syrian Orthodox Catholic Church of Saint Mary."

The website for St. Marys Orthodox Church of Cambridge has some more information: "St. Mary's acquired the church house of the First Universalist Church in 1954. It is the second oldest church building in Cambridge, having been built in 1821. St. Mary's Parish is located at 8 Inman Street, however, the church building originally graced the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Main Street, approximately one half-mile from its current location. The Universalist congregation had moved the entire building from its original location in the latter decades of the 19th century (the reason for this move is lost in the mists of history). The process was quite extraordinary for the time, drawing reporters from far and wide. The original building was cut into two pieces, front and back. These pieces were levered onto huge flat-bed carts and hitched to a long train of draft horses. The caravan proceeded at a slow pace up Massachusetts Avenue (newly strung telegraph cables had to be cut to allow for the passage of the tall structures) to the current location on Inman Street. A level-and-a-half basement foundation was excavated and the church was reassembled atop the stone preparations. Most of the present Inman Street block was part of the lot that surrounded the newly placed edifice."

Original and final destinations are marked in two separate entries in the Geocaching.com/NGS database. MY3105 has a location where Main Street meets Massachusetts Avenue. Locations can be off, so the exact location may not be where it is indicated. If it is accurate, the location is near the Salvation Army building or the fire station. MY3074 marks the present location on Inman Street. It mentions that the structure was moved in 1896, eight years later than the historical sign. It also mentions that the spire was blown down in 1938 due to the great 1938 hurricane that hit southern New England.

Today, the church still stands, though minus the spire and appears to be well taken care of.

Sources:

St. Mary's Orthodox Church Web Site on Church:
(visit link)

Geocaching.com Web Site for Benchmark MY3105 (Original Location):
(visit link)

...For Benchmark MY3074
(visit link)

Cambridge Historical Commission (location of historical sign):
(visit link)

Original Location: N 42° 21.789 W 071° 05.985 How it was moved: Wheels / Dolly / Truck Type of move: Inside City Building Status: Private Related Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Tell of your visit. Post an original photograph if possible.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.