First Baptist Church

Boston, United States

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

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The First Baptist Church, located at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Clarendon Street in Boston's Back Bay, is a historic congregation established in 1665 and among the oldest Baptist churches in the United States. The present Richardsonian Romanesque building, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson and Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, was acquired by the merged congregation in 1881 for $100,000 and has occupied its current site since 1882. The church's long history reflects the struggles of early American Baptists: the congregation initially met in secret, faced persecution from Puritans who nailed shut their first church doors in 1680, and was forced to disguise itself as a tavern on Noddle's Island before eventually establishing itself in the North End and later on Beacon Hill. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its interior is currently a pending Boston Landmark.