A Brief History of the Plympton Congregational Church

The structure for the current Plympton Congregational Church, built in 1830 and standing on Plympton Green, is significant to Plympton as an architectural landmark, as well as a meeting place for one of just two churches in town. It also stands as a symbol of the historic ties between the church community and the establishment of Plympton as a Town. With a few minor changes, the following history of the structures and functioning of this church has been taken from A History of the First Congregational Church in Plympton 1698-1998 on the occasion of its 300th anniversary.

The Plympton Congregational Church Building standing today was constructed in 1830, and is actually the fourth church/meeting house constructed in its vicinity. The First Meeting House was built on the south side of the green sometime between 1695 and October 27, 1698, when the first minister, Isaac Cushman, was ordained there.

At this time, the church served the town as a place to congregate not only for church services, but also for town meetings. Part of the property taxes each citizen paid was used to support the church and pay the salary of the minister. By 1716, the town had outgrown this first, small structure and the Second Meeting House was constructed opposite Elm Street on the green. In 1772 the Second Meeting House was taken down and the much larger Third Meeting House was built about where the soldiers' monument stands.

On April 16, 1827, a significant change took place. The church reorganized as a body unto itself and by 1834, the separation was completed as the parish began paying the minister's salary. To do so, the parish issued subscriptions to its members. In addition, land was given to the church to build a new structure. The old building was sold to Wittemore Peterson of Duxbury, who was hired to construct the new one for $3,364.

The frame of the new church was raised during the week of May 16, 1830. On September 30 of the same year, fifteen pastors and 800 people attended the dedication. More than 260 people were reported to attend the first service a few days later, on October 3.

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