The following are excerpts from the history pages of the Arlington Street Church web pages:
The church has a set of 16 steeple bells, each with a Biblical inscription, that was given by Deacon Jonathan Phillips, a friend of the Reverend William Ellery Channing. The bells, are mounted in the 190 foot tall steeple, and were restored in 1960 and played on Christmas Eve for the first time in many years. They are always played by hand, only one of four bell sets in Boston still played in this traditional way.
The present Arlington Street Church building was constructed between 1859–1861 on newly filled land in Boston’s Back Bay by members of the historic Federal Street Church. The original congregation gathered in 1729 in a barn where the Bank of Boston stands today on the corner of present-day Federal and Franklin Streets.
A statue of the Rev. William Ellery Channing, the great definer of Unitarianism and the fifth minister of this congregation from 1803–1842, is located across from the church in the Public Garden.
Arlington Street Church was the first public building in Boston’s Back Bay, a tidal basin of the Charles River that was filled in for building during the 1850s. Work began on Arlington Street Church in September, 1859. In May 1860 the cornerstone was laid at the southeast corner of the building. The 190 foot high spire was finished and the weathervane fixed in place on September 11, 1861. The building was dedicated on December 11, 1861.
The church rests on 999 wooden pilings driven into the mud of Boston’s former Back Bay. The pilings must remain submerged in water at all times so that they do not rot.
The building was designed by the celebrated Boston architect, Arthur Gilman. He designed the exterior after the famous church of St. Martin in the Fields in London. The structure is sheathed in New Jersey brownstone ashlar and displays architectural embellishments derived from the Italian Renaissance and 18th century English sources.
1729 The Church of the Presbyterian Strangers (Scotch-Irish) meets in a converted barn on Long Lane and hires the Reverend John Moorehead, a Harvard graduate, beginning a long line of liberal and highly educated clergy. By 1735, the church had 250 members.
1773 Congregation resents oppression of the British government despite peace sermons by Moorehead.
1787 Congregation dislikes the rigidity of the Presbyterian doctrine and discipline, breaks with the Synod and adopts the Congregational form of governance, taking total charge of its own affairs.
1787 James Belknap, leading patriot, preacher, and scholar is chosen as minister. Church used for many civic occasions, including the Massachusetts Convention which ratified the US Constitution.
1788 Belknap and congregation send a petition to the General Court of Massachusetts to abolish slavery.
1803 William Ellery Channing, frail in body, powerful in intellect and preaching, is chosen as minister.
1819 Channing defines "Unitarian Christianity" in the Baltimore Sermon, and in so doing helps to launch a distinctly Unitarian movement and win many to the Unitarian cause. Channing encourages the use of music in worship.
1825 The American Unitarian Association was founded at the Federal Street Church under the leadership of the Associate Minister, Reverand Ezra Stiles Gannett.
1859 Congregation votes to build a new building at Arlington and Boylston Streets. Completed in 1861.