The First Congregational Meeting House in Truro

The First Congregational Meeting House in Truro was constructed in 1827 as the society’s third meeting house.  The previous two (constructed 1709-10 & 1720) stood in North Truro.  By 1827 the town’s population had shifted southward, making the present site desirable.  Characteristic of theocratic tendencies of Massachusetts prior to the early nineteenth century, there was little distinction between the members of the religious society and the governing body of the town, which was Town Meeting.  The building was constructed by subscription from the pewholders who, technically, permitted both the religious society and Town Meeting to use the building.  According to local church histories:

“It was specified that the new building be 60 feet by 40 feet with a porch to the South, enough for a bell. The initial cost of the building was $3,116.64, $2,673.64 for the house; $321.00 for the bell purchased from the Revere Foundry, and $123.00 for the pipe and stove.”

With the gradual separation of church and municipal government in the late eighteenth century, this arrangement changed.  The pewholders rented space for use by Town Meeting until 1860 when it moved to the nearby Union Hall.

The building remains largely as originally constructed with minor changes.  The plan is characteristic of New England Meeting House architecture, being composed of a two-storey auditorium with a gallery on three sides (west, south & east) to provide seating at a second level.  The original pulpit was centered on the north wall of the auditorium; it is believed to have been lowered and replaced around 1845 in response to the decreased size of the congregation and lack of parishioners using the gallery for seating.  Around 1845, the south end of the auditorium was modified by enclosing a portion of the porch (projecting central pavilion) to create a vestry; this change reduced the size of the auditorium at its lower level by extending the vestry beneath the gallery.

In 1955, the building “was thoroughly restored, electricity was installed, the bell tower repaired and waterproofed, the old wallpaper [in the auditorium] reproduced, over 100 panes of new-old glass installed and new foam rubber cushions made, among other things.”

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