French Congregational Church - Springfield, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 05.891 W 072° 35.130
18T E 699661 N 4663498
French Congregational Church, later the First Spiritualist Church, was located on 33 - 37 Bliss Street near downtown Springfield, MA. It was relocated to Union Street and is now part of the MGM Springfield Casino complex.
Waymark Code: WM12QK7
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 07/03/2020
Views: 1
Sources:
Healing Hands: Link
MACRIS: Link
Wikipedia: Link
The French Congregational Church was built by Daniel Wesson to provide a church for the Huguenots employees of the gun manufacturer Smith and Wesson. The 68' wide by 42' high church and constructed of pressed brick with trim of East Longmeadow brownstone. It was built in 1887 by Sam Provost in a High Victorian Gothic style. The front facade has three distinct elements. The central part is a narrow gable-end building which is flanked by two pointed towers. The east tower is capped by an octagonal spire roof. At the base is a narrow entrance porch. The larger 68' west tower has a pyramidal roof and decorative brickwork along the cornice and around the windows. The main entrance is at the base of this tower.
Due to declining enrollment French Congregational Church was sold to the The First Spiritualist Society on January 1, 1918. They occupied the church a year later in 1919. In 1983, the church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The First Spiritualist Society made the church their home until 2013 when they sold the church and the property to MGM so that a new casino could be built in downtown Springfield. MGM promised to preserved the historic church and moved it one block away to its present location on Union Street.
A plaque placed in celebration of the 350th Anniversary of the founding of Springfield is located near the front door. It explains the history of the church:
FIRST
SPIRITUALIST
CHURCH
33-37 Bliss Street
Built 1887
*=====================================
Originally the French Protestant Church, this edifice was
erected with the support of Daniel Wesson, a local in-
dustrialist, to serve the small French-Canadian Protestant
population in the City. In 1909, the building was given up by
the French due to declining membership. For the next ten
years it served a variety of ethnic groups including Italian
Baptists and Black Protestant congregations. In 1919, the
First Spiritualist Society, which organized in 1850, pur-
chased the church and has continued to use it.
*=======350
1636 - 1986 Springfield MA
This property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.