Kings Chapel, (Boston, Massachusetts); 1749, 18th and 19th Century Architecture in America - Faheema Ismail

Kings Chapel, (Boston, Massachusetts); 1749, 18^th and 19^th Century Architecture in America

Named a historical landmark in 1960. The king’s chapel in Boston Massachusetts was one of the finest designs made in colonial America due to its use of granite as a new material not before used in the area. At the moment is an independent Christian congregation in ties with the Unitarian Universalist Association, and is used for Anglican worship. Although they share the same name the Kings Chapel Burying ground near the site is not affiliated with any church in the area and in facts dates back before the creation of kings chapel by over a century. It used to be called the “Stone Chapel” and was built by colonial Architect Peter Harrison, one of America’s first Architects.

The Chapel’s congregation was founded in 1686 by the royal Governor, Sir Edmund Andros and was named the first Anglican Church in Colonial New England. Before it was made into stone the original Kings Chapel was a wooden church built in 1688 and was originally built on the burying grounds mentioned before due to the fact that no one would sell land for a religion that wasn’t Congregationalist, which was the official religion of the area. The community wanted no part of this blasphemy and wanted no part in its construction. There were often times deep prejudice for those that strayed from the conformity in a community, which is the case in a majority of history, but thankfully this is one of the more tame reactions.

The current stone structure was built around the existing wooden structure by Peter Harrison in 1749 and was completed in 1754. Being one of the only architects available for it’s constructed, Harrison had worked for years if not the entirety of his life on the realization of this project including figuring out the construction techniques, material sources and costs, and basically developing every aspect of the project as well as explaining it all to those involved. Being the first building to use granite for building in Boston, its upbringing was filled with disasters and hardship. Due to the fact that granite was very hard to transport from the quarry and took a long time at that, as well as being hard to place the church became bankrupt in a short amount of time causing them to halt construction before it could be finished.

The Stone Church was built around the existing wooden frame and once the stone exterior was built, the wooden church was taken apart from the inside and taken out through the punctures of the façade. The wood was reused in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to construct St. Johns Anglican Church, but it was destroyed by a fire in 2001. Kings church is known for its hand carved wooden columns made by William Brubeck in 1758. The seating is from the original families that owned it, who paid the rent and designed the interior, which dates back to the 1920s. The Kings church is full of a rich history that illustrated much of the life in colonial America and is a reminder of the hardships of its time.

http://www.kings-chapel.org/brief-history.html

Greenwood, Francis William. A History of King's Chapel in Boston: The First Episcopal Church in New England : Comprising Notices of the Introduction of Episcopacy Into the Northern Colonies . Carter, Hendee, 1833.

"Bishop Edward King Chapel / Niall Mclaughlin Architects." ArchDaily. N. p., 2015. Web. 1 May 2018.