First Parish Church Site-Dover Point
- Also Known As: Old Meeting House Lot
- Address: Dover Point Rd
- Vicinity: Forsythia Dr
| Y/M/D | Person | Association | Description | Composition | Food | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y/M/D | Person | Association | Description | Composition | Food | Event |
| 1633/00/00 | A group of English Puritans who planned to settle in New England, including Viscount Saye and Sele, Baron Brooke and John Pym, buy William and Edward Hilton's plantation at Pomeroy Cove on today's Dover Point. | |||||
| 1633/10/15 | Thomas Leighton, The Immigrant | Member | The First Parish is formed immediately after immigrants from Salem arrive at Hilton's Point in mid-October. The first meeting house (lost) probably built of logs stood on Low Street where the Spaulding Turnpike's Dover Point toll house is located. | |||
| 1638/12/00 | Hatevil Nutter, Elder | Church Elder | First Parish Congregational Church is formally organized at Dover Point. The oldest parish in New Hampshire and one of the oldest in the nation has been in continuous existence since that time occupying successive meeting houses. | |||
| 1640/10/20 | Thomas Leighton, The Immigrant | Member | Thomas Leighton (Tho Layton) signs with his mark the "Combination of the People of Dover to Establish a Form of Government". The original was in the Town Records c 1665. Gov Cranfield made a copy in 1682 which is in the Public Record Office in London. | |||
| 1642/00/00 | Thomas Leighton II | Born | Joanna Silsby Leighton, wife of Thomas Leighton, gives birth to a son, Thomas Leighton, in Dover, Province of Massachusetts Bay. | |||
| 1652/12/05 | Richard Walderne | Architect | Dover Town Records show the proposal of Second meeting house, 40 ft long by 26 ft wide, with 16-foot stud. Built 1653-1654, the site is marked with a plaque, and the earthworks thrown up around it in the time of Indian troubles are still evident. | |||
| 1665/02/15 | Peter Coffin | Work | Mr Peter Coffin is hired to erect a turret (lost) upon the meeting house (lost) in which to hang the bell to be imported from England. | |||
| 1667/00/00 | The Second meeting house is fortify against Indian attacks with a stockade of upright timbers completed sometime before 1675. The resulting small fort measures 100 ft on a side with two 16 ft square sconces (bulwarks) at the NW and SE corners. | |||||
| 1713/00/00 | A new meeting house (lost) is built on Pine Hill in Cochecho, where the city of Dover is centered. The population of Dover Point had gradually moved north through the years, and only a small cluster of families remained close to the second meeting house. | |||||
| 1720/00/00 | Once the second meeting house is abandoned, the bell is removed and taken to the third meeting house on Pine Hill. The building will be allowed to deteriorate until it is finally razed prior to the Revolutionary War. | |||||
| 1889/04/06 | Charles H Sawyer and Elisha R Brown convey four acres on the west side of Dover Point Road containing the meeting house foundation and surrounding woods to the First Parish Church. |
| Place | AsNotedIn | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Place | AsNotedIn | Type |
| First Parish Church |
|
| Particulars for First Parish Church Site-Dover Point: | |
|---|---|
| Area of Significance | Exploration-settlement |
| Structure Type | Fortification |
| Area of Significance | Historic and non-aboriginal |
| Criteria | Historic Event |
| Criteria | Information Potential |
| Owner | Private |
| Sociological | Puritan Great Migration |
| Historic Use | Religious Property |
| Sight Category | Site |
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