First Meeting House 1635

[image from Newbury Historical Commission Website : http://www.newbury1635.org/churches.html]

During the summer of 1635, the building of the first meeting house was begun, thought to be approximately one half mile from the current training green in Rowley, MA. This house of worship was not completed until the autumn of 1638. A parsonage was also built on the lower green in 1637. This effort required the church to apply to the General Court for support through taxation. A debt of 60 pounds was incurred and the court ordered the debt be paid by a tax on personal property and real estate. This was the beginning of compulsory support of religious worship, which spread throughout New England and did not disappear until 1833.