The Baptist Meetinghouse   -   circa 1700 -10 

     The Baptist Meetinghouse was disassembled at its original site, 62 West Broadway (now Dr. Marcus Wheatland Boulevard) because of impending demolition.  Calling it a Baptist Meetinghouse comes from what is, thus far, only conjectural evidence.  John Clarke gave land to the Baptists in 1676 for a burying ground and a church.  Church records indicate that they “built a church in 1707 on Tanner Street” (the 17th and 18th century street name for West Broadway).

      After it was purchased by NRF, and in order to be moved to a new location, the Meetinghouse was disassembled.  During this process it became evident that there were four distinct stages to the framing. The first stage of construction indicates a large, one room building of two stories with evidence that there was not a full second floor, only a partial second level, such as a gallery balcony or choir.  Further, there was no indication of a chimney in this earliest building.  (Meetinghouses usually did not have chimneys or fireplaces at this time.)

      The next phase, c.1710, added a bay to the depth of the frame on the first floor and covered it with a saltbox style roof.  The third phase, mid-18th century, saw the frame footprint brought to a full two stories and covered with a gable roof.  The fourth phase, either at the end of the 18th century or the early part of the 19th century, was an ell added at the rear of the building.  It was probably during the second and third phases that the building began to be used as a house or at least more than a simple meetinghouse.

      Had it been possible, when NRF bought the Meetinghouse in 1974, to keep it on its original site next to its accompanying burying ground, the priority would have been to restore the building to the meetinghouse configuration. This was not possible, so the choice was made to restore the building to the mid-18th century plan on land NRF owned on Dennison Street.

     The Baptist Meetinghouse originally stood on West Broadway (now Dr. Marcus Wheatland Boulevard) – known very early on as Tanner Street.  The Meetinghouse was purchased by NRF in 1974, disassembled and moved to Dennison Street, and then restored in 1975.