HAVERHILL — The city’s newest addition to the National Register of Historic Places is a quaint, isolated, wood-frame building that has no electricity, no running water, and is heated by a wood-burning stove.
The East Parish Meeting House on rural Middle Road, considered to be one of the state’s 10 most endangered historic resources, is now on firmer footing as volunteers work to solidify its place as a historic landmark and community resource.
The National Parks Service has placed the Meeting House, where poet John Greenleaf Whittier once attended worship services, on the National Register of Historic Places. It opens the doors to applying for preservation grants needed to restore it for use by current and future generations.
“In the winter, raccoons invade and we have to push them out,” said East Parish resident Marion Bergman, citing just one example of the challenge to save the 1838 structure.
The East Parish Neighborhood Association uses the 11/2 story building for its annual fall harvest potluck suppers, which raise money for a scholarship program. It is also a popular place to hold weddings, holiday services and other events. The building is owned by the East Parish Congregational Society.
For more than 30 years, members of what is now the East Parish Restoration Committee have maintained the structure through volunteer efforts.
“We did not have enough money to complete the needed repairs and began to look for grant money,” said committee president Shannon Hewey. “We realized that in order to receive any grant money we needed to be listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places.”
One of the biggest projects facing the group is restoring the belfry and mounting a new spire, which has been in storage since it was built by students at Whittier Regional Vocational High School in 2001.
Thus far, the committee has received two grants — $2,500 from Essex Heritage and $2,700 from the Methuen Festival of Trees for historic restoration. The money is being used to develop plans and estimates for future repairs and a detailed report on the history of the building’s construction.
“With this information we can now file for larger grants,” Hewey said. “The final hope is to get the belfry and steeple spire back on the building and to their original design.”
Brian McNiff, spokesman for the Massachusetts Historical Society, said Hewey’s group is eligible to apply for preservation grants, but noted they will require matching amounts.
“They can consult with the commission on ways to do repairs to maintain the historic nature of the building,” McNiff said.
An extremely well-preserved example of Greek Revival Architecture, the building is one of only seven meeting houses still standing in Massachusetts.
Its bell, originally cast on 1848 for the Haverhill Town Hall, was made in West Medford by George Handel Holbrook — whose father is believed to have been an apprentice of Paul Revere. The bell was acquired in 1861 and was moved to the Meeting House. It tolled at the deaths of presidents Lincoln and Garfield.
The Meeting House that stands today was erected in 1838 as a replacement for the original 1744 structure built by residents of the East Parish and Rocks Village areas, who used it as a community center and place of worship.
“Many people in the area don’t know about this building because of its location on a road that is infrequently traveled,” said Whittier Road resident Peter Rudd, a preservation contractor who joined Hewey’s group two years ago as its consultant. “Now that it is on the National Register, our hope is that this building can be enjoyed by a wider audience than it has been and we can involve more people in its preservation.”
Last year the building was listed as one of the state’s 10 most endangered historic resources by Preservation Massachusetts, a nonprofit group that promotes historic preservation. It was at risk of being condemned by the city due to infestations of mice and other woodland rodents that have left it structurally unsound and in need of repairs.
With the help from the Essex National Heritage Commission, the restoration committee filed for historic designation through the Massachusetts Historical Commission. At its Dec. 8 meeting, the commission approved it and six other historic resources around the state for nomination to the National Register.
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How you can HELP
A donation of $100 gets your name on a brass plaque inside the meeting house.
Donations to the nonprofit East Parish Meeting House can be sent to Shannon Hewey, 534 East Broadway, Haverhill, MA 01830.
Haverhill’s national historic sites:
East Parish Meeting House, 267 Middle Rd.
John Greenleaf Whittier’s birthplace on Whittier Road
Duston Garrison House, 665 Hilldale Ave.
Rocks Village Historic District
Ephraim Davis House on Amesbury Line Road
Emerson House, 5-9 Pentucket St.
Hastings-Morse House, 595 East Broadway
Hazen-Spiller House, 8 Groveland St.
Intervale Factory, 402 River St.
Washington Street Historic District
Main Street Historic District
Peabody School, 170 Salem St.
School Street School, 40 School St.
Primrose Street Schoolhouse, 17 Primrose St.
Bradford Common Historic District
Haverhill Historical Society Historic District
Haverhill Board of Trade Building, 16 Walnut St.
L.H. Hamel Leather Company Historic District
Merrimack Associates Building, 25 Locust St.