Mount Vernon Church of Boston, Mass.

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charles65ofboston

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Hello Group! I have taken a short rest from my Boston department stores blog to start a few new Flickr groups with certain Boston buildings as the subjects.
My first venture is The Mount Vernon Church of Boston.
The last location of which was the Graham Gund "Church Court" condo conversion of 1984 located on the corner of Beacon Street and Mass Ave.
The congregation built this building in 1892 and used it until 1970. The empty building burned in July of 1978 after many various ideas of possible new uses failed.
I have done a great deal of personal research into the history of this church and will post some of my findings on the Flickr site. I would love any contributions of photos or other documents for the site of the church during its history before it became affiliated with Old South Church in 1970.
The other location of the church was on Ashburton Place on Beacon Hill from 1844-1892.

The new group can be found at:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/792521@N23/

July 2010 Update....New Mount Vernon Blog open for readers!!!
http://historicmountvernonchurchofboston.blogspot.com/

Thanks as always!!! Charles

charles65ofboston@yahoo.com
 
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A great photo I located during the "busy days" of the church in the 1920's.
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July 2010 Update....New Mount Vernon Blog open for readers!!!
http://historicmountvernonchurchofboston.blogspot.com/
 
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Hey Ron, This church was a member of the Congregational Christian Churches of America and became part of The United Church of Christ in the late 1950's as did many of the congregational churches in the New England area.
Each church is self-governing but part of a larger liberal, progressive Christian denomination today. A very accepting and welcoming group of churches.
Mount Vernon had a wonderful tradition of outreach and did have many MIT student activities at one stage during the "busy days" due to its location.
 
Thanks. I used to walk by this church every day when I went to MIT and lived on Bay State Road, from 1975 to 1979. By that time it was already closed. An attached brownstone was rented out as offices to a variety of non-profit organizations.
 
Thanks Ron! Yes...I walked by many times during the 1970's. That was the main reason I became so involved with its history. By the mid-1970's, I recall the church looking sadly untidy and in need of some serious work. The autumn leaves of years gone by were building up in the main doorways and trash was on the main stairs as well as on the Mass Ave. side lower basement level. I think that it was being used by the homeless and had been broken into from the rear in the parish house end which overlooked on the Charles River.
I recall many broken windows in the parish house by this stage. The parish house(Charles River side of the building) I believe was the worst damaged part of the church in the 1978 fire. I would not be surprised if the fire did not get started there to begin with since it was the most hidden part of the building from the busy July street traffic. None of the parish house survives today after the 1984 renovation by Graham Gund.
 
I sort of recall that this development was hailed both as reuse pioneer and a high profile introduction of that "furrin" notion of condominiums into our fair village. There were probably many earlier examples of both, but the press spin of the day made it sound "daring" and "progressive".
 
The village concept was pioneered nearly 20 years earlier at Sea Ranch.

Gund's intervention, though contextual, just doesn't do it for me. I prefer what Rudolph did with the First & Second Church on Marlborough Street.
 
At the time, converting a church into housing was an unusual and largely untried concept. I don't understand your reference to "villages".
 
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Excellent thoughts. I, too like the First&Second Church treatment. I think that the fact First&Second is still being used as a church helps a great deal.
Mount Vernon still has the tower and two walls but lacks any of the same roof lines, arches and the rear parish house. But on the other hand, I am so thankful that bits of the building are there to remind us of what once was.
I think First&Second really retains the fact that a Victorian giant stood once in the place and it creates a wonderful drama with the site. Also the rose window with the old burned wood is so amazing...drama!
I will doing a Flickr site about that church as well since it is another of my passions:)
 
Hey Ron, In my travels around the Boston area....The late 1970's -early 1981 had a couple of these projects if I recall correctly.
One in Newton Center...I think it was the old Methodist Church and St. Mark's in Brookline on Park Street. These two projects left the buildings more or less alone on the outside but reworked the insides for living or office spaces. Both look fine from the outside. I watched the St. Mark's project from start to finish since it was on route to and from my high school. I think it was completed in 1982 ish. I know by 1983 it was being lived in.
The St. Mark's project left many features from the church in place including lots of the orginal woodwork, windows and stairways. I think the baptismal font is still in there as well.
 
Beton Brut said:
The village concept was pioneered nearly 20 years earlier at Sea Ranch.

Gund's intervention, though contextual, just doesn't do it for me. I prefer what Rudolph did with the First & Second Church on Marlborough Street.
Click to expand...

Oh, gosh. I just hate the reworked 1st and 2nd Church (and the Lutheran (?) opus nearby.) I remember an old book referring to it as Boston's own version of Westminster Abbey, because of the many locally significant figures who had preached or worshipped in the church body in ye olde times, and were commemorated in this building in stone.

I agree that the impact of the Gund church condo conversion has faded. Things move on. For example, when the Vendome was condo-ed, it was the last word. Recently visiting a friend there, you could see that what was cutting edge back then makes for a dull blade today.
 
Hello Folks:
I am enjoying all the various thoughts about church renovation and redevelopment. I am eager to start my First&Second Church thread and group since it has many fans and non-fans of the new(1972) site. I am very much a lover of the older styles of church building and the original church on that site was amazing in so many ways.
I shall be getting into more detail about the various buildings of First and Second Church very soon. But I think the "new" style had a great attraction for the congregation of First and Second back in the late 60's.
Second Church had just merged with First(1970) after the fire of 1968 and recreating the 1868 First Church building was not something they wanted to do because UUA worship had changed a great deal since the 1860's and the "new" style reflected a change of congregational needs in the worship space.
More later:)

Back to Mount Vernon: Here is a Globe article from the paper today about the "small" church and the issues they face about staying open.
Mount Vernon faced these issues in 1968-69 and had only just a few more attenders on an average Sunday than these churches in the article.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma.../15/heres_the_church_but_where_are_the_people

Charles........................
 
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Mount Vernon: The 60's Effect- Brookline Example

Hello All!
I wanted to follow-up on the article in the Sunday Globe about the small church and the struggle to stay open.
Mount Vernon Church had a record of good, steady growth from 1842 to the 1940's. The 1950's and 60's saw many churches in and around Boston begin a slow decline in membership and average Sunday attenders. By the mid-60's many churches were in trouble and this issue of staying open became a question for many. The beautiful buildings many maintained became a big problem for each congregation.
Further up Beacon Street from Mount Vernon lay Brookline. Brookline Protestant churches in general were in a serious decline. The three churches in the Coolidge Corner area once were some of the largest in Brookline but now were looking at very tiny numbers of attenders each Sunday.
The three buildings shown here are...or were...beautiful! I saw them all as a child as churches and was in awe. The buildings were large and had vast seating abilities. In 1964 small discussions were held to look at a merger.
In 1966 a serious look began and the three churches began a very hard look at reality. This was hard and all three wanted to save the building they owned. Votes were taken and services rotated between the three buildings until 1968. The baptists voted to close their building and moved in to Harvard Church to hold joint services with the congregationalists. This was very new ground for the times and each had to work hard to find common links. Soon the methodists moved in and by 1970 the three were united in worship.
St. Mark's did not sell the building right away. It had served as a school for several years and then was redeveloped into housing in the early 80's.
It was made a landmark building in 1976. This is why so much of it remains the same today even after redevelopment.
The Baptist Church building was sold quickly and was torn down in 1972 to make way for an apartment complex. The members of the Baptist Church were hurt but the building was not a landmark at this stage and not enough control was used at the time of the sale in 1970. The Baptist Church was a handsome site the way it sat looking down on Coolidge Corner with a black cross with small bulbs on the tower that they lit at night. The cross remained lit at night even after the 1968 move. The tower also had chimes which I do recall hearing in the late 60's as well. All that remains on the site is a small memorial with the original bell mounted in the courtyard.
Mount Vernon was approached in the late 60's by Old South Church. The Brookline situation was being written about in the press at the time and I think may have served as a possible spark to the 1970 closure of the Mount Vernon building and the affilation with Old South Church.

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Charles................
 
You've got three "heavy metal" classics in that shot of Beacon St. L to R: 67 Cadillac Eldorado, 66 Olds Toronado, antiquated street car.
:
 
I do like the Chapel interior quite a bit. Modern grandeur, flight of the spirit, all that sort of thing. Not quite as keen on One Boston Place, but I see the same design DNA in it. One Financial Center, oh my. Looks like Building 19 had a big sale on vinyl siding. That, plus the whole "lazy" or "reclining" horizontal window thing that Van writes about now and then. More out of the school of John Beluschi than cousin Pietro.
 
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Hello, All!!!
Years....YEARS in the making and I have now started my Historic Mount Vernon Church of Boston Blog!!!

The blog will contain church history and various bits of memorabilia I have been sent or located from 1842 until 1970...maybe beyond if things come my way....we shall have to see.

Much to share.

The introduction is up and more will follow.

http://historicmountvernonchurchofboston.blogspot.com/

Enjoy...Charles:rolleyes:
 
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Re-reading this old thread .... Charles, did the Protestant churches of Brookline decline because their membership was displaced by a large migration of Jews into the town?
 
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