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Appendix D. Enlargements of Meetinghouses in New England by Cutting the Frame, 1723–1824
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348 A P P E N D I X D Enlargements of meetinghouses in New England by cutting the frame, 1723–1824 1723 Barnstable, Mass. (West Parish). 1719 meetinghouse enlarged by 2 bays. 1737 Newburyport, Mass. 1725 meetinghouse enlarged to 80 × 60. 1742 Rowley, Mass. (Second Parish, Georgetown). 1729 meetinghouse enlarged 13ft. 4 in. 1745 Scituate, Mass. 1707 meetinghouse enlarged 13ft. 1750 (estimated date) Salem, Mass. (Middle Precinct, later Peabody). Meetinghouse enlarged twice by Daniel Spofford, first crosswise, later lengthwise. 1754 Duxbury, Mass. 1706 meetinghouse enlarged 15 or 17ft. 1756 Barnstable, Mass. (Second or East Parish). 1719 meetinghouse enlarged 15ft. by cutting ; belfry added. 1756 Sandwich, Mass. 1703 meetinghouse divided in center and lengthened 15ft. 1759 Falmouth, Maine. 1740 meetinghouse (Old Jerusalem) enlarged by sawing “through on both sides of the pulpit and each end was moved from the pulpit twelve feet,” creating 28 new pews on lower floor. 1761 Yarmouth, Mass. (Second or East Parish, Dennis). 1721 meetinghouse enlarged. 1762 North Yarmouth, Maine. 1727 meetinghouse, 50 × 40, cut in the middle and the western half moved 40ft. to create a building 45 × 94. One source says 28ft. 28 pews added. 1764 Hanover, Mass. (Central Meeting House). Town voted to open its 1728 meetinghouse “in two parts and put in a new piece in the middle 13 feet or 15 feet in length”; subsequently voted for a new meetinghouse, 62 × 43, 22 posts. 1765 Truro, Mass. 1720 meetinghouse enlarged and repaired. 1768 Plympton, Mass. (Second or South Parish or Carver). Town voted “to cut the [1732] meeting house in two in the middle of the broad alley and put in fifteen feet.” 1768 West Tisbury, Mass. Town voted to cut the 1733 meetinghouse in the middle and enlarge it by 15ft., and enlarge it an additional 2ft. on the back. 1768 Yarmouth, Mass. 1716 meetinghouse enlarged 15ft. 1769 Killingly, Conn. (Second, North, or Thompson Parish). 1729 meetinghouse cut into two parts and enlarged 14ft. 1769 Sherburne, Mass. 1723 meetinghouse enlarged by 20ft.; town voted “that the Peace be put in the middle.” Another description: “this was done by sawing the house in two in the middle, moving the western half to the distance desired, and connecting the two parts together by a new piece.” 1770 Salem, Mass. (Second or East Parish). 1717 meetinghouse enlarged by inserting 14ft. in the center. 1772 Westborough, Mass. Town voted to expand its 1749 meetinghouse and look at examples of cutting and filling in to make enlargements. Voted in 1774 to “split the meeting house & put in 14 feet.” 1772 Woburn, Mass. Town voted to “open the [1748] Meeting House in said Parish, and move to the West eighteen feet & a half; and move the Pulpit to the middle of the House on the North Side.” 1773 Chatham, Mass. 1730 meetinghouse enlarged “east and west” by the addition of 17ft. and a 9 x 10 porch. 1775 Watertown, Mass. 1723 meetinghouse enlarged (before 1775) by extending the pulpit side about 18 ft., adding 16 pews and creating a structure like a lean-to on the pulpit side. 1781 Cummington, Mass. Meetinghouse moved and enlarged (after 1781) by the addition of a section in the middle. 1782 Lynnfield, Mass. Town voted to enlarge its 1715 meetinghouse by cutting it into two pieces and adding 14ft. Bentley’s diary says in 1813 that it was enlarged. 1787 Holliston, Mass. Town voted to add 14ft. to the center of its 1725 meetinghouse, increasing it from 40 × 32 to 54 × 30. 1792 Mendon, Mass. (Second or East, Milford). Town added 14ft. to its 1741 meetinghouse. 1795 Dorchester, Mass. 1743 meetinghouse enlarged “by first dividing it along the ridge pole, and moving off one half 14ft., and then building an addition in the middle; after which the tower and steeple were moved, standing, seven feet, to bring it to the center of the end.” 1796 Harwich, Mass. 1723 meetinghouse enlarged by opening the frame to new dimensions 72 × 45. 1801 Newburyport, Mass. 1756 Presbyterian meetinghouse was “cut open with the purpose of enlarging it. It was open exactly in front of the front gallery.” 1804 Sandwich, Mass. 1703 meetinghouse enlarged 15ft. a second time, this time in width. Another source says: “deepened by another 121 ⁄2 feet, through moving the entire north wall with pulpit and pews that much father north. The front roof and ridge from the belltower remained in place, so that the back roof slope became flatter.” 1824 Londonderry, N.H. (East Parish). 1769 meetinghouse enlarged by...