No. 553 Postcard. Chirst Church, Dix St., Dorchester, circa 1910.
No. 2485 Third Unitarian Church, Neponset Avenue at Mill Street, circa 1880.
The Society was organized in 1848 as the Third Unitarian Society. The first Meeting-house was built in 1846 at the corner of Neponset Avenue and Mill Street. It was known from 1875 to 1894 as the Harrison Square Unitarian Church. The Society re-located to the corner of Dorchester Avenue and Dix Streets in 1894.
The 1894 Bromley atlas shows the Harrison Sq. P.E. [sic] Church on the site at the corner of Dorchester Avenue and Dix Streets. No building appears at this site on the 1889 map. The Boston Landmarks Commission’s neighborhood description for King Square states that the building was built in 1894.
The building was designed by Edwin J. Lewis, Jr., who lived at 597 Adams Street. The original design included a tower that was never built. Lewis is most famous for his residential architecture and some of his designs are located in Dorchester at 15 & 22 Carruth Street, 12 Alban Street, 12, 60, and 75 Ocean Street.
The ministers and their tenures were (From Historical Sketch of the Norfolk Conference by George M. Bodge, 1990):
Charles Brooks, born in Medford, Oct. 30, 1795; H.C., 1816; Div. Sch., 1819. Mr. Brooks was the first preacher. Died in Medford, July 7, 1872.
Francis Williams, born in Brighton; H.C., 1843; Div. Sch., 1845; supplied the pulpit for one year
Samuel Johnson, born in Salem, Oct. 10, 1822; H.C., 1839; Div. Sch., 1846; supplied the pulpit for several months; died in North Andover, Feb. 19, 1882.
Stephen G. Bulfnch, born in Boston, Jun3 18, 1809; Columbian Univ., 1827; Harv. Div. Sch., 1830; installed Aug. 1, 1852-may 4, 186; died in Cambridge, Oct. 12, 1870.
Frederic Hinckley, born in Boston, Nov. 3, 1820; Harv. Div. Sch., 1848; installed March 3, 1867-July 1, 1870; died in Barnstable, Dec. 18, 1891.
Henry C. Badger, born in Munroe Co., N.Y., Antioch Coll. 1857; January, 1871-December, 1873; died in 1894.
Nathaniel Seaver, born in Boston; Harv. Div. Sch., 1864; installed February, 1874-1875.
Caleb D. Bradlee, born in Boston, Feb. 24, 1831; H.C, 1852; Div. Sch. 1854; installed June 4, 1876-June 1, 1890; died in Brookline, May 1, 1897.
William William Rogers Lord, installed as colleague to Mr. Bradlee, 1887-1895.
Benj. A. Goodridge, born in Lyndborough, N.H.; Boston Univ., 1881; Harv. Div. Sch. 1890; installed April 3,1895.
In 1930 the Minister was Robert Allen Singsen
For more information, consult:
Dorchester Old and New, 1630-1930. Dorchester: Chapple Publishing Company for the Dorchester, Massachusetts, Tercentenary Committee, 1930.
Shand Tucci, Douglass. The Gothic Churches of Dorchester. Issued by the Dorchester Savings Bank. Boston: Tribune Publishing Company, 1972.