History of the Old South Church
After the Great Fire of 1666 in London, it was given to Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), originally an astronomer and mathematician and founder of the Royal Society; to help rebuild the smoking ruins of the city. His most notable work was the rebuilding of 52 churches of which the St. Paul’s Cathedral was his crowning achievement. In his long career as the Government’s infrastructure representative; he pushed for simple geometric shapes loosely representing the classical architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. He used the balance of symmetry to give the buildings elegance. When the Old South Meeting place was being moved from High Street to Federal; it was natural to look back at the prominent features of their Mother Country and in particular, the great churches of London.
The congregation had originally been meeting in Storey Garden in a small wood cabin chapel. But as they soon outgrew the facility, then moved to 29 King Street, disassembled the old building and added more first-growth lumber from member’s properties. This move in 1756 was momentous as the building they constructed in just three days was the largest church building in all of New England. The reason was that the Rev. George Whitefield used the Old South as his headquarters. His fame was such that the church would be packed out with standing room only crowds. So the sanctuary was designed to fit 2,000 people at one time. The effort was not wasted as Rev. Whitefield visited the church ten times over his ministry and each time it was packed.
Interior features
The pews. Originally, the inside of the sanctuary had the pews facing North toward a very high and lifted up pulpit. Behind it was a large rectangular ‘sounding board’ that would be used to bounce the pastor’s voice back to the congregation below. Separating into two large blocks, a wide aisle approached the pulpit. To appreciate how the congregation looked, one would need to go visit the Religious Society of Newburyport’s interior. Inside of rows of pews, there would be very high walled, lifted up cubicles where families would gather as a unit and was highly important during the long, harsh New England winters. In 1829, the church was reconfigured to face eastward and the cubicles were lowered. The Pulpit was moved and Rev. Whitefield’s remains were moved into a new tomb below the pulpit.
The Ceiling.
In 1856, an Italian immigrant, Philip Guelpa, painted the interior of the church using Tromp L’oeil or “Fool the eye”. Only three churches in New England have had this done; and recent surveys have indicated that the Old South’s interior is the largest and finest anywhere. Philip and his brother Horace had a company, the Guelpa Brothers, who were fresco decorators and colorers. They had their business at 17 Dartmouth Street in Malden.
In 1985-1986, the decorations were restored. Unfortunately, due to a leaking roof, which ended up costing about $50,000 to fix; the Tromp L’oeil will need to be repaired and restored to its former glory. After bids have been sent out, it apparently will cost from $75,000.00 to $150,000. Due to the fact that the State is loathe to restore interior features of an historic building, individual and private funds are being sought to redo the ceiling.
The Steeple
The date the Weathervane was placed on the top in 1759 is assumed the steeple was finished.
In 1848, a Gothic spire with corner finials replaced the original steeple.
In 1949, The steeple of the church, which had guided sailors back to Newburyport, MA was severely damaged by the hurricane of 1938. it was removed and capped with a 105-foot-tall cupola. The finials were stored in the tower for possible placement in the future.
The rest of the church structure remains in its original state. (The New York Times, May 13, 2006) Recently, Old South Church discovered, much to its dismay, that the existing steeple was leaning and in need of immediate repair which would be close to $200,000 coming from a combination of private and public funding. All of Newburyport watched in 2006 as the steeple was lowered, as it was restored and repaired and as it was once again hoisted back to its proper place.