The Universalist Church

The site selection in 1741 set the pattern for clustering major town buildings around a common area, but a church was not completed here until 1770. It was funded by selling pews while the town would pay the cost of the steeple. That steeple toppled during the 1938 hurricane and was replaced in 1941, funded by donations and other monies.

At first, the church stood alone overlooking a grassy plain until 1828, when theological disagreement splintered the church. With two churches, parish membership had declined, so the 18th-century building was replaced with this smaller structure. Its exterior is similar to the Town House, but four years earlier.

Inside, its sanctuary displays the elegant simplicity typical of New England village churches. An elevated pulpit looks down on rows of paneled white pews separated by side and center aisles, with the organ and choir loft at the rear.