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First Parish Church of Dorchester

1636 establishments in MassachusettsChurches in BostonNew England PuritanismReligious organizations established in the 1630sUnitarian Universalist churches in Massachusetts
First Parish Church in Dorchester DPLA a173498cbd56db59b875257af6dd7ad9
First Parish Church in Dorchester DPLA a173498cbd56db59b875257af6dd7ad9

First Parish Dorchester is a Unitarian Universalist church in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The congregation was founded by English Puritans who initially saw themselves as reformers rather than separatists, but increasingly intolerable conditions in England and at the urging of Reverend John White of Dorchester, Dorset, they emigrated to New England. On March 20, 1630 as they set sail from Plymouth, England on the Mary and John, the congregation wrote its founding church covenant. Nearly all of the 140 ship passengers originated in the West Country counties of Somerset, Dorset and Devon. In late May, the ship landed first at what became called Hull, Massachusetts, and then in June at a place called "Mattapan" by the indigenous people including the Massachusett and Wampanoag. The Puritans named their new home "Dorchester Plantation." Over time, the congregation's theology changed from its Calvinist Puritan roots to Congregationalism, Unitarianism around 1816 and then in 1961 Unitarian Universalism, a faith tradition with a long history. The first church building was a crude log cabin thatched with grass. As well as the church, the Puritans founded the first elementary school supported by public money in the New World. They held the first town meeting at the church, also called a meeting house, which determined policy through open and frequent discussion. The congregation's fifth building burned in February 1896, and the current building was completed in 1897.As of spring 2015, First Parish completed the third of five phases in a $7 million restoration project, which began November 2006. The most recent phase included accessibility improvements, exterior repairs and painting, and steeple restoration. Future work will include renovation and office reorganization in the parish hall, and a significant footprint expansion to provide much-needed community, classroom, and activity space.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article First Parish Church of Dorchester (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

First Parish Church of Dorchester
Parish Street, Boston Dorchester

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N 42.308166666667 ° E -71.062277777778 °
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First Church Dorchester

Parish Street 10
02122 Boston, Dorchester
Massachusetts, United States
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First Parish Church in Dorchester DPLA a173498cbd56db59b875257af6dd7ad9
First Parish Church in Dorchester DPLA a173498cbd56db59b875257af6dd7ad9
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The Mather School
The Mather School

The Mather School is the oldest public elementary school in North America. It is located in the Dorchester region of Boston, Massachusetts and was named after Richard Mather. Mather was an English-born American Congregational minister who emigrated to Boston and settled in Dorchester in 1635.On June 9 [O.S. May 20] 1639 The Dorchester Town Records reads the following: "It is ordered that the 20th of May 1639, that there shalbe a rent paid of 20ls yeerely foreur imposed upon Tomsons Iland to bee payd p euy p'son that hat p'prtie in the said Iland according to the p'portion that any such p'son shall fro tyme to tyem injoy and posesse there, and this towards the mayntenance of a schoole in Dorchestr this rent of 20ls yeerlyl to bee payd to such a schoolemaster as shall undertake to teach english latin and other tongues and also writing...." The first building was a one room schoolhouse and was located on what had been known as "Settlers' Street," near the corner of the present Pleasant and Cottage Streets. It served until 1694 when a contract was made with John Trescot to build a house twenty feet long and nineteen feet wide, with a ground floor, a chamber above, with a flight of stairs, and a chimney. The contract required the building to be boarded and clapboarded; to be filled up between the studs; to be fully covered with boards and shingles. The site of this building is supposed to be the hill near the meeting-house, on what is now known as Winter Street.The successor of this first school is the Mather School located at Meeting House Hill, the second building of that name. The previous building, erected in 1856, was located on the same site where the fire station is now. It was renamed the Edward Southworth School when the new Mather School was built in 1905, and has since been demolished.The Mather School, located on Parish Street just a few yards away from the original location, is operating for students of the Dorchester district spanning grades K–5. The school's mission is proficiency with support for all in reading, writing and math. Other classes offered are music, art, physical education, science, library and computers. Additional programs include tutoring, mentoring and nutrition education. The school has a culturally diverse student and staff body with seven specialty classes and a well equipped playground. The principal as of the 2021–22 school year is Hai Son.

Fields Corner

Fields Corner is a historic commercial district in Dorchester, the largest neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States founded in June 1630. It is named after Zechariah Field (born in East Ardsley in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Eng., about 1600; arrived in Boston, 1629). He was a son of John and grandson of John Field, a distinguished astronomer of England. He lived in Dorchester, 1630. His place of residence is still known as Fields' Corner.The area is served by the newly refurbished Fields Corner subway station on the Ashmont branch of the MBTA Red Line. The X-shaped intersection of Adams Street and Dorchester Avenue marks the center of one of Dorchester's busiest commercial districts. The Fields Corner district is distinguished by several landmark buildings, including one of Dorchester's most well-known, One Fields Corner, also known as the Lenane Building or the Liggett Drug Store Building, at 1448-1456 Dorchester Avenue, a triangular building with prominent curved facade dominating the south side of the Adams Street/Dorchester Avenue intersection. On the east side of the intersection is an enormous brick building which houses a U.S. Post Office and is known as the O'Hearn Storage Building, which once housed a music hall and today displays little of its original character as a building designed by noted Dorchester architect Edwin J. Lewis.To the north is the Fields Corner Municipal Building (1874, now housing professional offices), located at 195 Adams Street on the corner of Arcadia Street, and, a short walk up Adams Street, Ronan Park, an 11-acre hilltop park with a gorgeous view to Dorchester Bay. Residential areas such as Meetinghouse Hill, Clam Point, Melville Park surround the Fields Corner business district and are characterized by densely packed three-decker housing or Victorian homes in yards. Residents are a diverse mix of Vietnamese Americans, Hispanic-speaking peoples, and Americans of African descent, and European descent. Fields Corner is known in Boston for its Vietnamese restaurants serving excellent pho (Vietnamese soup), Dorchester's long-standing Irish population is represented by several pubs, including the Blarney Stone, where it is said draft Guinness was first served in the United States.