The Hancock Meetinghouse, one of just two remaining meeting houses in the state of New Hampshire that is shared by both the town and church, joined another exclusive this weekend.
On Sunday, the Hancock Meetinghouse turned 200 years old, marking two centuries since its formal dedication on Oct. 25, 1820. And those who have spent years working to help preserve its original character and unique collaboration marvel at the fact it continues in its original intent to this day. There were plans to celebrate the milestone, but those had to be put on hold in respect for public safety due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But regardless of the lack of pomp and circumstance, and stories filled with memories, the Meetinghouse’s longevity as a place of gathering for both town’s people and religious followers, it’s longstanding collaboration and meaning to the town is still being honored.
The original meetinghouse, built in 1789, was lost to fire and rebuilt in about a year. It was moved from its original location and has endured so many obstacles over the course of the last 200 years that it’s truly something to behold.
“It still amazes me to this day that they would move it,” said Kurt Grassett, who is a Hancock selectman and spent many years as the road agent and DPW director. “It was really a monumental task.”
While other meetinghouses that were originally a partnership between the town and church and largely gone away, Hancock has maintained that relationship through many generations.
“I’m just really pleased Hancock has kept the building jointly owned,” Grassett said. “It was built at a different time, under different circumstances.” Grassett said. There were discussions around changing the agreement during the LCHIP grant renovations in 2014, but “it’s part of history and we were going to keep it.”
“It’s really like a marriage of ownership,” said Neal Cass, who has lived in Hancock almost his entire life, served as a selectman and is a longtime member of the First Congregational Church, adding that the agreement was updated three years ago. “In general, the relationship has worked. The collaboration has just been great.” He said at various points the people who ran the church were also selectmen and town moderators.
“In more recent years, the town has taken a more active role in the building,” he said.
Dave Drasba first got connected with the Meetinghouse Oversight Committee when the town decided to pursue the LCHIP grant. As an architect, he volunteered to draw up plans of the existing building because he knew the town was going to need them. From there, discussions were had around what should be done with the funding.
“It’s such an incredible building. I feel privileged to be involved,” Drasba said. “It was certainly cutting edge (for its time).”
While he has been around many old building throughout his career, the Meetinghouse is special.
“What’s unique about it is the scale of the building,” Drasba said. “For them to undertake such a grand building, it’s just amazing to me.”
He said there were several meetinghouses in New Hampshire and Massachusetts that had a similar design. And it’s the little things that make it so special.
“The amount of ornate details on the outside of that building is just unbelievable,” Drasba said. And his favorite part is the steeple.
“It really is an incredible piece of architecture,” he said. “And it’s probably the most eye catching.”
Cass went to preschool on the lower level and said over the years the first floor has been used for things like Town Meeting, voting, the police station and town offices. Cass lives just down the street from the Hancock Meetinghouse and always gets asked how he deals with the Paul Revere bell ringing every hour.
“I don’t really hear it anymore,” he said. His favorite view in the building is from the bell tower.
“You can look in one direction and see Norway Pond, two cemeteries in another direction and down Main Street. It’s really amazing what you can see,” Cass said.
The physical building was dedicated on Oct. 25, 1820, but the history of the Hancock Meetinghouse goes back even further to when construction began for the original meetinghouse on Sept. 16, 1789. The building, which was originally constructed across the common from where it stands today in Hancock’s Historic Village District, was destroyed by fire on on Oct. 28, 1819. In less than a year, the town’s people rallied to rebuild based on the design of the Dublin Meetinghouse, built by Jacob Ames of Hancock.
“It’s pretty impressive 200 years late what they undertook,” Drasba said. He said that these days, a building of that size, would likely be a two year project. “I still can’t figure out how they completed that. It’s an incredible feat.”
In 1851, the arduous task of moving the Hancock Meetinghouse to its current location, led to some changes to the building. It was divided into two stories, with town hall occupying the lower story and the church above.
Alterations from the conversion included lengthening windows on side elevations of the second story, removal of some windows in the rear, and a dropped floor in the lower town hall level. It was also when the town and church signed an articles of agreement governing use and care for the Meetinghouse.
“How do you think of something like that?” Grassett said of the idea to move the Meetinghouse across the street. He imagines the powers that be sitting around a table at the town’s inn. “I would have loved to been there during that discussion.”
In 1872, the tower clock from E. Howard & Co. was installed and to mark the 100th anniversary of the church, major renovations took place in 1888 to include new colored-glass windows, resurfacing the walls, new paint and carpeting, new pulpit furnishings, a new furnace and Esty organ added.
In 1903, the Congregational Society disbands and the church was incorporated as the First Congregational Church. During the Hurricane of 1938, the colored and figured-glass windows were damaged and replaced with clear glass.
Colonial lamps and signs were installed at the main entrance during major renovations in 1966, and the organ pipes gilded with gold leaf. The west room on the first floor were converted into the pastor’s study, and the Howard tower clock was re-gilded along with new paint for the exterior.
A new organ, made by Bill Brys of Charlestown, was installed in 1985, using many pipes from the Frazee organ. Fire and burglar alarm systems were added in 1993.
Major renovations of the Hancock Meetinghouse took place in 2014 thanks to the LCHIP grant. Structural reinforcements were added to the first floor supports, along with repairs to the roof truss caused by damage from chimney installations in 1828. New heating and electrical systems were installed, as where new accessible toilet rooms. The first floor meeting room was brought up to meet accessibility codes, and the second floor was made accessible by a new enclosed platform lift.
“That was a really special project to work on,” Grassett said. “I was thankful for the opportunity and there were so many people that jumped in and helped it shine for the town.”
Grassett said they went through entire building to identify what needed to be done. Some of the replaced wood was done using trees native to the property that stood for many years.
The exterior of the building was painted up to the roof line, a new slate roof was installed, and the fire escape reinforced. The first floor meeting room and stage were renovated and the restored theater curtain was installed.
“The slate we replaced was over 100 years old,” Grassett said. “And we’ll have that slate for another 100 years.”
During work in the crawl space, Grassett said he markings on the stone foundation indicating which piece of foundation it was, which he attributes to the move of the building. And the signatures that adorn the belfry walls is a peek into the history of the building.
“We’re looking at stuff that’s 200 years old,” Grassett said. “So let’s take care of it while we’re here, especially when you start to see the care they took to do things right.”
Over the last handful of years, the exterior windows were restored and painting and renovations to the steeple were completed.
“But there’s a lot in that building that’s 200 years old,” Grassett said.
As for the future of the Hancock Meetinghouse?
“I think it has at least another 200 years left in it,” Cass said.