The United Church
of Ludlow is composed of the Congregational Church (UCC) and the
Methodist Church (UMC).
The current Church building was erected in April, 1892 at a cost
of $10,918.43 (including furnishings) by the Congregational Church
of Ludlow.
However, the fore bearers of this current building date back to
1792 when the first area Congregationalists met in the home of
Stephen Read, near Buttermilk Falls. The first Congregational
Meetinghouse was constructed in 1806. This was superceded in 1839
by a second structure.
The Methodist Church, prior to joining with the Congregational,
dates back to 1814 when Ludlow members worshipped in nearby Andover.
Later, some members became affiliated with the Methodist Church
in Proctorsville.
In 1875, the Methodists built a Church at the corner of Depot
and Pleasant Streets. The building housing the Methodist Church
has been converted into condominiums.
In the 1920's, the Spaulding family donated the structure now
referred to as the Parsonage to the Congregational Church for
use as a Parsonage. The building, although much newer, was designed
to complement the architectural appearance of the Church.
In April, 1930 the two Churches united forming the United Church
of Ludlow, with the current Church as its home.
Until the opening of Fletcher Library, the Church offered Ludlow
its only free-circulating Library.
The organ in the Church was built by George S. Hutchings. It is
an unaltered seven-stop, tracker action instrument made by this
famous Boston firm.
The United Church of Ludlow has served a wide variety of local
community groups including the Masons, Well-Child support, Boy
Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, AA, Al Anon, The Black River
Good Neighbors, MountainSide Teen Runaway Support, a variety of
physical exercise groups, Community Garden sponsorship, Beekman
House, Children Play Groups, and teen tutoring. Below is a summary
by month of the religious and secular uses of the Church during
The period of November 2000 through July 2001. As may be seen
from this examination, almost 65% of the Church's total usage
is for secular (i.e., community-oriented) purposes:
Church Usage
Religious |
Secular |
Other |
Totals | |
| November 2000 | 4 | 20 | 3 | 27 |
| December 2000 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 20 |
| January 2001 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 21 |
| February 2001 | 4 | 19 | 5 | 28 |
| March 2001 | 6 | 20 | 3 | 29 |
| May 2001 | 6 | 17 | 5 | 28 |
| June 2001 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 22 |
| July | 13 | 10 | 1 | 24 |
| Total, All Periods | 50 | 127 | 22 | 198 |
| Period% by Type | 25.25% | 64.14% | 11.11% | 100.00% |
In 2003 the Church completed two major milestones in its restoration project: it totally restored the Ladies Parlor and renovated the slate roof and copper flashing.
In January of 2004, the Church was named to the National Register of Historic Sites by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Historical Significance of Church
(Prepared by Paula Sagerman of Williamsville, Vermont, a Historic Preservation Consultant, as part of the Nomination Papers for the National Register of Historic Sites)
The Congregational Church of Ludlow is significant as possibly the only example of an intact authentic Shingle Style church in Vermont. It was constructed in 1891-92, and retains its historic integrity. Also, its setting in a nineteenth-century residential neighborhood remains intact. The church meets National Register Criterion A for its contribution to Ludlow's and Vermont’s history of religion and meets National Register Criterion C for its architectural merit as an intact Shingle Style church. It is being nominated under the Multiple Property Listing for "Religious Buildings, Sites, and Structures in Vermont," and meets the registration requirements for the church property type. The church relates to statewide themes of Historic Architecture and Patterns of Town Development, and Culture and Government. The period of significance of the Congregational Church of Ludlow is 1891-1953, which spans the years between when its construction began and the fifty-year limit for National Register eligibility.
The Town of Ludlow was chartered on September 16, 1761, by Benning Wentworth, colonial governor of New Hampshire. The first settlers arrived in 1783 or 1784, and were Josiah and Jesse Fletcher, Simeon Read, and James Whitney, all from Massachusetts. Ludlow was probably named after Ludlow, Massachusetts. The Town was organized in 1792, and the first annual town meeting was held that year at the home of Stephen Read.
Settlement in Ludlow began in earnest in the 1790s northeast of what is now Ludlow Village, and Ludlow remained an agricultural community until small saw and grist mills started to appear in the early nineteenth-century. Development in the village area began around 1800 due to the construction of the Green Mountain Turnpike and mills on the Black River, and Ludlow Village was incorporated in 1820. Growth in the village continued throughout the nineteenth-century, and textile production was the most important industry in Ludlow for one hundred years, until the mid twentieth-century. The establishment of the Central Vermont Railroad through town in 1849 helped further expand commercial, industrial and residential growth, particularly on Main Street near Depot Street (a few blocks from the subject church). A town common was created in the early nineteenth-century, on Main Street about one block north of the subject church. Most of the landmark public buildings in Ludlow Village are located on or near this common.
The first road through Ludlow was the Crown Point Road, which was also one of the first roads through Vermont. It was built in 1759-1760 to provide a route during the French and Indian War from Fort No. 4 in Charlestown, New Hampshire, to Crown Point, New York. The road passed through the northeastern corner of Ludlow; this section of the road no longer exists but there is a granite marker. The second road through Ludlow was laid out in 1784, and was a section of what was later to be known as the Green Mountain Turnpike and Route 103, and Main Street through Ludlow Village.
The Congregational Church of Ludlow (hereinafter called "the church") faces Pleasant Street, which is parallel to and one block south of Main Street. Pleasant Street had been laid out between Depot Street and Elm Street in 1845. At that point, Reuben Washburn, who lived in a farmhouse at the corner of Main and Elm Streets, owned most of the land on Pleasant street, including the church lot. He and some of his neighbors sued the town in 1845, as they were "dissatisfied with the layout of the street." In 1850, after the suit was brought to county court, each plaintiff was awarded one cent for damages. Elm Street, which passes by the east side of the church, appears on the 1855 Doton map of Ludlow.
When the Town was chartered, a glebe lot was set aside for the Church of England, but was not developed as such. In 1792, the same year the Town was organized, some citizens of Ludlow started worshipping weekly, except for the winter months, but with no formal church organization. Services were probably held at the house of Stephen Read, a few miles outside of Ludlow village, the same location as the first town meeting, and also in a natural outdoor amphitheater. Read's house is no longer standing.
The First Congregational Meeting House Society, the first church society in Ludlow, was formally organized September 25, 1806, forty-four years after the first Congregational Church society was organized in Vermont in Bennington in 1762. It was the ninety-first Congregational Church society organized in Vermont. At this point, there were twenty-four church members. The first service of the organized church was held at the High Street schoolhouse, with a preparatory lecture given by Rev. Prince Jenne of Plymouth, Vermont. At this service, Peter Read (1751-1839) was chosen as the first deacon. He became the pastor in 1810, and served both positions until 1826. Read was also the first Ludlow representative to the state legislature, starting in 1795.
The first Congregational meeting house was constructed in 1807, on High Street, and was the first meeting house in Ludlow. It reportedly was a small, plain building with no exterior adornment. It was replaced by the second Congregational Church in 1839. This was a Greek Revival style building with a Gothic Revival steeple. It was removed in 1897, after the construction of the subject church.
Other local Congregational societies were also formed, and overlapped each other over time. The "Congregationalist Society in Ludlow for the purpose of supporting and settling a minister" was organized in 1826 and disbanded three years later. The "Congregational Meeting House Society at Ludlow" existed for an unknown period of time but was responsible for the construction of the second church building. Three other Congregational societies existed before the construction of the extant church. In 1890, a combined church/society organization was formed, the Ludlow Congregational Association.
The idea for a new, third church, in a new location, was discussed as early as 1875, when a committee was formed to investigate the matter. The reason to build a new church is documented in church records as being that it was believed "that the interests of Christ's Kingdom centering in the Congregational Church in Ludlow would be advanced and its power for usefulness increased by a change from its present location, and the erection of a new house of worship....." It is assumed that the congregation had also outgrown the 1839 church. Ludlow had experienced industrial, commercial and residential expansion during the third quarter of the nineteenth-century, and during the last quarter of the nineteenth-century, many new landmark public and religious buildings were built in town, such as the 1892 Baptist Church.
In 1885, the Society bought the Gregg place on Main Street, with the intention of building a church there. A building committee was formed, including Rev. H.P. Fisher, E.A. Howe, Viola Cooledge, Maria Pierce, and M.H. Goddard. The committee raised $2,591 for the construction of the new church. In 1890, a design and fundraising committee was formed, including D.F. Cooldedge, Charles Raymond, and Martin Goddard. The previous building committee gained additional members at this time; E.C. Crane, A.H. Lockwood, and William Lawrence.
In May 1890, the church voted to accept the gift of Hon. Daniel A. Heald and his wife Sarah of the lot at the corner of Pleasant and Elm Streets. The deed transfer took place September 1, 1890. This parcel was known as being part of the Washburn Lot. As mentioned above, in 1828, Judge Reuben Washburn had built a farmhouse at the corner of Main and Elm Streets, and owned what was to become Pleasant Street. Sarah Heald was probably Judge Washburn's daughter, and the Healds owned the Washburn farmhouse as well as the church lot. The 1885 Burleigh panoramic map of Ludlow reveals that the church parcel was one of the last empty lots on Pleasant Street. The only other empty parcel was directly across the street; this was soon occupied by another house.
The Healds also donated the architectural plans for the church, which were drawn by Edward T. Hapgood, AIA, of New York City. In May 1891, the contract for the construction of the church was given to Clinton F. Smith of Middlebury, Vermont, for $6,939. The church was completed in April 1892 at a total cost of $10,918, including furnishings. J.T. Remington of Wallingford, Vermont, was the construction foreman. Lumber was provided by J.N. Harris, who later wrote the History of Ludlow, Vermont. The frescoes in the sanctuary and on the ceiling of the Ladies Parlor were painted by E.P. Saunders of Bellows Falls, Vermont. (They have since been painted over.) The George H. Holbrook bell, produced in Medway, Massachusetts, probably came from the previous church, as it dates to 1839.
The first services held in the church were in the vestry on February 21, 1892. The church was dedicated May 5, 1892, one hundred years after the first religious services were held in Ludlow. The pastor at the time was Rev. Evan Thomas. After Thomas left the church in 1893, he became the editor of the local newspaper, The Vermont Tribune. The horse sheds that once stood northwest of the church were probably contemporaneous with the church as they are mentioned in an 1893 church record. A Shingle-Style parsonage was constructed just west of the church in 1905 and remains intact.
The Healds also furnished the Ladies Parlor (although its mantel clock was donated by Mrs. Seth Thomas), paid for the construction of the porte-cochere (now the one-story projection at the west side of the church), and donated the stained glass window over the pulpit in memory of Judge and Mrs. Reuben Washburn. The stained glass Palladian window window facing Elm Street on the east wall of the sanctuary was presented by the Sunday School. The stained glass Palladian window facing the side yard on the west wall of the sanctuary was a gift of the Young Peoples' Society of Christian Endeavor.
The furnishings of the Florence Memorial Library were donated by church members James S. Gill and his wife Rachel, of Ludlow and Boston, in memory of their daughter Florence. Mrs. Gill was also largely responsible for the cost of the church parsonage. The library originally was a public library, free and open to local citizens. It was closed to the public after the Fletcher library opened in 1900 on Main Street.
The pipe organ was installed in 1898 by J.P. Barrett of Boston. It was designed and built by George Sherburne Hutchings (1835-1913), a reputable organ manufacturer. Hastings was from Boston and from 1873-1917 he produced organs with tracker, tubular-pneumatic and electric actions. Today, the organ is reportedly worth $130,000.
Edward T. Hapgood (died 1915) was probably chosen as the church architect due to his proximity to the Healds; all were living in New York City at the time the church was constructed. This is possibly Hapgood's only design in Vermont. He was a New York City architect when he designed the church, but is more known as a Hartford, Connecticut architect. His firm Hapgood & Hapgood (with Melvin H. Hapgood) designed and supervised the construction of several public buildings in Connecticut, such as the Hall of Records in Manchester, the Simsbury High School, and the Rossia Insurance Office Building in Hartford. The firm also partnered with another architect for the State Library and Supreme Court Building. One of Edward Hapgood's designs is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Horace Belden School in Hartford.
Contractor Clinton F. Smith was from Middlebury, Vermont. Also living in Middlebury at the time was one of Vermont's most well-known architects and builders, Clinton G. Smith. Their similarity in name and hometown suggests a family connection, but this relation could not be determined. It is possible the "F" was a typographical error when the subject church was constructed, but this church does not appear on a comprehensive list Clinton G.'s completed projects.
Donald A. Heald, who donated the land and architectural plans for the church, was an important figure in American fire insurance history. Heald was born in 1818 in nearby Chester, Vermont. He was a lawyer and operated an office in Ludlow from 1844 (the year after his marriage to Sarah Washburn) until 1857, when he moved to New York City. In 1865, he joined the Home Insurance Company of New York City. He helped establish the National Board of Fire Underwriters in 1865, and is credited for writing the first fire-specific underwriting policies. At the time the church was built, he was President of the Home Insurance Company. Heald also helped establish New York City's first paid fire department, and advocated means of fire prevention and fire-fighting. His contributions to the fire insurance industry are particularly important when considering the context of New York City during the third quarter of the nineteenth-century, when fire hazards multiplied due to the continued increase in the height of buildings and the growing garment district. It is odd that Heald presented plans for a church constructed entirely of wood, including the roofing, at a time when stylish buildings were also being constructed of brick and stone walls and slate roofing.
The church may be the only example an intact mature Shingle Style church in Vermont. Although when it was constructed it was considered "colonial," since architectural historian Vincent Scully, Jr., coined the term "Shingle Style" in 1955, it has been considered this latter style. The church is of the mature Shingle Style because its massing and detailing is different than that of the early Shingle Style types. Early development Shingle Style structures of the 1870s and 1880s (and into the twentieth-century in Vermont) maintained Queen Anne, Eastlake and medieval features such as a variety of wall surface types, pointed arch windows, projecting bracketed rooflines, Stick-Style porches, and Gothic Revival towers.
The mature phase of the Shingle Style, during the late 1880s and 1890s (and later in Vermont), included Queen Anne asymmetrical massing with powerful abstract forms such as large gables, continuous wood shingle walls and roofs, flared wall aprons, stone foundations, projecting towers that evoke lighthouses, contrasting projecting (towers) and recessed (front porch) spaces, Colonial Revival details such as cornice returns, multi-pane double-hung windows, Palladian windows, little or no overhang of the roofs, Tuscan columns, pediments, and thin window and door casings so as not to interrupt the flowing wall surfaces. The subject church incorporates all the features of the mature Shingle Style. The only significant Shingle Style feature that has been altered is the wood shingle roof, which is hidden below the extant slate roof. Scully notes when referring to the mature Shingle Style, that "the revival was obviously making a serious attempt to evaluate colonial architecture, and to understand the Queen Anne."
There are only a handful of other intact Shingle Style churches in Vermont, for several reasons: churches were rarely constructed in the Shingle Style, even outside of Vermont; the style itself was fairly uncommon in Vermont and was primarily residential; and most Shingle Style churches in Vermont are either not pristine examples of the style or they have been altered. Although the subject church is of the "mature" Shingle Style, several churches were constructed in Vermont after the subject church that are considered Shingle Style but incorporate Victorian-era features that look to the past instead of the colonial revival "future" of the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century. The early date of this mature Shingle Style church is probably due to the fact that the architect was from New York City.
Examples of less-pristine Shingle Style churches in Vermont include the 1893 Congregational Church in Bethel, which has clapboard wall surfaces (and has been altered); the 1893 United Methodist Church in Middlebury, which has a variety of wall surfaces and Queen Anne details; the 1897 Presbyterian Church in Barre, which has Gothic Revival details and tower; the1898 Congregational Church in Bristol, which has Romanesque details and is no longer a church; and the 1909 United Presbyterian Church in East Craftsbury, which has Gothic Revival and Craftsman details.
Numerous church auxiliaries have existed throughout the history of the church. The Sunday School was established shortly after the organization of the church. The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was organized in 1887, and the Junior Society of Christian Endeavor was organized in 1898. The Women's Association of the Congregational Church of Ludlow was organized in 1907. It included the previously existing Ladies Benevolent Society, Ladies Aid Society, Woman's Foreign Missionary Auxiliary, and the Woman's Home Missionary Union Auxiliary. The Women's Association was later known as the Woman's Society of the United Church of Ludlow, and in 1953 was changed to the United Church Women. Other groups include the Roosevelt Castle of the Knights of King Arthur, the Ladies of King Arthur's Court, and the Alpha Chapter of the Pilgrim Fraternity, all organized in the early twentieth century.
In 1930, members of the nearby Methodist Church and the Congregational Church both decided that they could not maintain their buildings and that they should share one. That year, the churches joined to become the United Church of Ludlow, and services were thereafter held at the Congregational Church. The Methodist Church was the last Protestant church to be organized in Ludlow. The first services local services were held in, and the church was formally organized in 1872. In 1875, the Methodist society built a church at the corner of Pleasant Street and Depot Street. The steeple was removed in 1954, and in 1987 the structure was converted to condominiums.
The future preservation and integrity of this church, which has been known as the United Church of Ludlow since 1930, is ensured due to the current religious and secular activities as well as current rehabilitation plans. The church serves not only as a religious institution but also supports local community groups such as the Masons, Well-Child program, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, Alcoholics Anonymous, the Black River Good Neighbors, Mountainside Teen Runaway Support, physical exercise programs, Community Garden, Beekman House, Children Play Groups, and tutoring programs. These are all appropriate activities for this structure and people of all ages and backgrounds have the opportunity to experience and appreciate this historic landmark. The church also maintains a large bulletin board in the vestry that posts information about the history and preservation activities of the church.
A major rehabilitation program was undertaken in 2001, guided by preservation architect Tom Keefe of Keefe & Wesner of Middlebury, Vermont, and structural engineer Stephen Sopko of Zaremba-Sopko Associates of Troy, New York. The rehabilitation of the Ladies Parlor was completed in 2003 and a dedication ceremony took place on September 21. The comprehensive rehabilitation of the building will be completed in 2004, and will comply with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.