Chestnut Hill Baptist Church/Baptist Church in Exeter - Rhode Island ...

_______Forr.No 1 0-300aHey 10.741 -Ii NIl El. SlAt 1:5 RIMI-NI if Fill-. I NflRIOR FOR NPS USE ONLY- NATIONAL PARK SERVICE -: - - - - -- RECEIVEDNATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY--NOMINATIONFORM -CONTINUATION SHEET 1 ITEM NLJMBEFI 7 PAGE 2audience room see -Photo 3. Originally, two separate doorwaysopened from the vestibule to the audience room. These have beenclosed up and a wide, central double doorway cut through.The sanctuary is a square, high-ceilinged room, illuminatedby three large, square-head, double-hung, 12/12 windows in eachside wall. The present ceiling, which arches slightly from sidewall to side wall, is finished with fiberboard panels supportodby thin wood battens. This ceiling, whose arched design followsthe form of the original plaster one, was installed in 1929, atthe same time that the church was electrified. The small, threestep-highpulpit platform is located at the back of the building,opposite the entrance to the sanctuary. Two aisles subdivide thelevel floor of the room into four tiers of pews, two side-by-sidein the center of -the floor between the aisles, and one on eitherside between the aisle and side wall. -The original flat-topped pews, possessing plain, unpaneledends and stained -rails, survive, although they now lack doors.The present pulpit platform, installed in 1882, replaces theoriginal small, high pulpit entered by staircases on either sidesee Photo 2. In the mid-l9SOs the platfotm was converted intoa chancel. The small, simple Late Victorian paneled desk was movedto one corner, and a Colonial-style altar, with a dossal hangingand built-in seats, installed. The pews, chancel furniture, andall interior trim are now painted white.

0 SIGNIFICANCEPERIODAREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE--CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW_PREHISTORIC _ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC _XOMMUNITY PLANNING _LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE RELIGIQN_1400-1499 _ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC CONSERVATION _LAW SCIENCE_1500-1599 AGRICULTURE ._ICONDMICS _LITERAIURE _SCULP[UHE_1600-1699 XAHCHITECTURE EDUCATION _MILITARY SOCIAUHUMANITARIANx-1 100-1799 _ART ENGINEERING _MUSIC ._THEATERXlBOO-1899 _COMMERCE _EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT PHILOSOPHY -. _TRANSPORTATION_900. COMMUNICATIONS LINOUSTRY _POLITICS/GOVEFRNMENT _OTHER ISPECIFVI- - _INVENTION -SPECIFIC DATES 1838 - BUILDER/ARCHITECT -STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCEIn architectural terms, the Chestnut 11111 Baptist Church mustbe judged to be one of Rhode Island’s finest Greek Revival countrychurches. In local terms, it is significant as the home of Exeter’soldest congregation. -The Chestnut Hill Church ws founded in 1750, only eight yearsafter the incorporation of the town, as the "Baptist Church in Exeter."Like many another Rhode Island Baptist church founded in the wake ofthe Great Awakening of the l740s, the congregation took at first aliberal position on the question of baptism and church membership.By 1776, however, it had adopted- the more typical Calvinis-tic Baptistpractice of admitting as members only those who professed their faithand were baptized anew.The church, which served the eastern part of Exeter and surrounding areas, experienced a rapid expansion of membership in its earlyyears, probably as a result of the growth of population in thisrelatively late-settled agricultural district. In 1776 the congregation had 77 members; by 1783 the number stood at 210. In 1825,numerically the peak year, the membership reached 758, and must haveincluded a large proportion of the area residents.Until 1829 the Baptist Church remained the only church group inthe eastern part of Exeter. In that year, however, a controversyregarding the moral character of the pastor, Elder Gershom Palmer,resulted in the expulsion of Palmer and his supporters. This group,although reconciled with the parent church in 1845, continued tomeet separately, and in 1856 built the still-standing Liberty Churchseveral miles to the south. By 1858 the Baptist Church in Exeter -possessed only 188 members.The church has never regained its early numerical strength. Itsvitality was sapped in -the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries by the gradual decline f the rural population a commonphenomenon in New England generally and Rhode Island in particular.- --- -- I, - - - ---C

Form Jc l0-300aHey 10-74 -uN tiLl SlAtES tIPAI IMENI UI- FIlE INIt-:IIott FOR NPS USE ONLYNATIONAL PARK SERVICE - -RE CE IVEDNATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES - -DATE ENTEREDINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORMCONTINUATION SHEET 3 ITEM NUMBER- 8 PAGE 2However, the congregation continues to hold weekly services, and looksto a more prosperous future with the gradual suburbanization of thearea. -Despite the simplicity of its Greek Revival detailing, theChestnut Hill Baptist Church is one of the more elaborate RhodeIsland country churches of its day. With its paneled pilasters - -and Greek-key-pattern fretwork panel over the doorway, it is a naive,.country exemplification of the southeastern New England regionalGreek Revival mode developed by prominent area architects such asRussell Warren and James- Bucklin. Discussed by Talbot Hamlin inGreek Revival Architecture in America and pictured by Henry-RussellHitchcock in Rhode Island Architecture, the Chestnut Hill Church isa local and state landmark. - -

flMAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES - -Arnold, WiI,let 11. Historical Sketch of the Baptist Church in Exeter,R.I. Central Fails, R. I. E. L. Freeman Co., 1883Exeter Baptist Church Records, Mss. 2 vols. and unbound sheets.Hamlin,. Talbot. Greek Revival Architecture in America. New York:Oxford University Press, 1944. - -CGEOGRAPHICAL DATA -ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY 1 / 2 a creUTM REFERENCES-Al 1191 L..I 161618101 I46 L0,6V10Qi BIZONE EASTING NORTHING -c111[111,IjI1111,,Iol, IZONElI I I I I [._L.iEASTINGNORTHINGIliLtIllIllIl!VERBAL BOUNDARY DEScRIPTION --IIFrom the southeast corner the property line runs west along the northside of Ten Rod RQad for fifteen rods 247.-S feet, then north forten rods 165 feet, then east for ten rods, then south for five rods82.5 feet, then east for five rods, then south for five rods, to thepoint of beginning. See Exeter Land Evidences, XI, 336.LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERL APPING STATE ORCOUNTY BOUNDARIESSTATE CODE COUNTY CODESTATE CODE COUNTY CODEmFORMPREPARED BY -NAME / TITLERobert Osborne Christensen, Survey ConsultantORGANIZATIONSTREET& NUMBERCITY OR TOWNRhode Island Historical Preservation Commssion April.DATETELEPHONE150 Benefit Street 401-277-2678STATEProvidence Rhode Island1978ESTATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION -- THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:NATIONAL....... STATEJL. LOCAL_As the designated State Historic Preservation Olficer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 PUblic Law 89-6651.1hereby nominate this property for Inclusion in dNationaI Register and certily that it has been evaltiated according 10 thecriteria and procedures set forth by the Nation I Park ervice. -FEDERAL REPnESENTATIVE SIGNATUREj-TITLE State Historic Preservation Officer DATE June 21, 197-8F0RNpsUSE0NLY -I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS PROPERTY IS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTERDATEDIRECTOR. OFFICE OF ARCHEOLOGY AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION .ATTEST:DATE-KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER -

Form No 1O.300aHey. 10-74 -I..JNII It St,- I 1:5 !t:I’.RIMI.NI UltIlt. INIEHI’jIt FOR NPS USE ONLYNATIONAL PARK SERVICE -- - - -NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM- RECEIVEDDATE ENTERED -CONTINUATION SHEET 4 ITEM NUMBER 9 PAGE 2J-Jitchcock, Henry - Russell. Rhode Island Architecture. New York:Da Capo Press, 1968.Huling, Mary Kenyon. Historical Sketch of the Baptist Church inExeter, Rhode Island Chestnut Hill. Private printing, 1938.

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,Chestnut 11111 Baptist ChurchTen Rod Road, Exeter, Rhode IslandRobert 0. Christensen January, 1978Negative filed: Rhode Island HistoricalPreservation Commiss ionFront of audience room from the south#2I-’’

F’.I.*1Chestnut Hill Baptist ChurchTen Rod Road, Exeter, Rhode IslandRobert 0. Christensen January, 1978Negative filed: Rhode Island HistoricalPreservation Commission- Detail of gallery front#3- -*-‘-"H ‘‘- -.‘k-- -

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__________________________________- -..Chestnut Hill Baptist ChurchTen Rod Road, Exeter, Rhode IslandRobert 0. Christensen January, 1978Negative filed: Rhode Island historicalPreservation CommissionExterior from the southwestPost card view c. 1910- #4- ..