Church on the Hill (Lenox, Massachusetts)


The Church on the Hill is a historic church building at 169 Main Street in Lenox, Massachusetts. Built in 1805, it is one of a small number of surviving Federal period churches in the region. Its congregation, gathered in 1769, belongs to the United Church of Christ, and its offices are located at 55 Main Street. The church building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Architecture and building history

The church is located on a rise at the northern end of Lenox village, on the west side of Main Street. It stands on a parcel in size that includes the town's first cemetery. It is a two-story wood frame structure, with a gabled roof and clapboarded exterior. A gabled entry vestibule projects from the center of the main facade, with the entrance at its center, flanked by pilasters and topped by a gabled pediment. Above the entrance are a Palladian window and a dentillated gable. The building corners have fluted pilasters. A tower rises astride the main block and the vestibule projections, with a square clock-faced stage topped by an open octagonal belfry with paneled pilastered supports. Above the belfry is an octagonal paneled stage which is crowned by a cupola, finial, and cross.
The meetinghouse was built in 1805 by architect and builder Benjamin D. Goodrich of Richmond, based on designs by Asher Benjamin and Charles Bulfinch. It was dedicated on January 1, 1806. Its total cost was $6,619.00 including furnishings. The building was erected on land near the town's first meetinghouse, which it replaced.
The current pastor is the Rev. Elizabeth R. Goodman.
A of the church, by American Impressionist Clark G Voorhees, is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Ministers