Union Episcopal Church
( English Church ) |
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Location: |
133 Old Church Road |
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Built: | 1773 |
Governing body: | Private |
NRHP Reference#: | 80000318[1] |
Added to NRHP: | February 1, 1980 |
Union Episcopal Church, also known as the English Church, is an historic church located on Old Church Road in Claremont, New Hampshire, in the United States. Built in 1773 it is the oldest surviving Episcopal church building in New Hampshire and is also the state's oldest surviving building built exclusively for religious purposes.[2] It is still an active parish in the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. On February 1, 1980, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
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The parish was organized in 1771 and chartered by the New Hampshire legislature in 1794 as Union Church Parish. At that time local Episcopalians and Congregationalists were considering uniting to hire one minister to serve both groups, but this never happened. The next year the Rev. Daniel Barber, who had once been a Congregational minister, did become Union's rector.[2] His son, the Rev. Virgil Barber, also became an Episcopal minister, but left the church in 1816 to become a Jesuit priest and to later found St. Mary's Parish in Claremont, the first Roman Catholic church in New Hampshire.[3]
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