First Baptist Church (New Bedford, Massachusetts)

First Baptist Church
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Location	New Bedford, Massachusetts
Coordinates	41°38′6″N 70°55′44″W / 41.63500°N 70.92889°WCoordinates: 41°38′6″N 70°55′44″W / 41.63500°N 70.92889°W
Built	1829
Architect	Unknown
Architectural style	Greek Revival
Part of	County Street Historic District (#76000229)
NRHP Reference #	75000251 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	April 21, 1975
Designated CP	August 11, 1976

The First Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church meeting house at 149 William Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The Greek Revival building was constructed in 1829, and has been a prominent landmark of the city ever since. Its tower appears on the city seal.^[2]

The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975,^[1] and included in the County Street Historic District in 1976.^[2]

In 1863 Major Henry M. Robert attended the annual general meeting at the First Baptist Church in New Bedford and on the spot was elected the chairman pro tem of the meeting. He was embarrassed because he knew nothing of how to run a meeting. It was that meeting that caused him to begin studying parliamentary law, which culminated in the publication of the first edition of his book, Robert's Rules of Order, in 1876.^[3]

In 2015 the landmark was declared a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in New Bedford, Massachusetts

References

1. National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. "MACRIS inventory record for First Baptist Church". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
3. "Historical Vignette 038 - An Army Engineer Brought Order to Church Meetings". US Army Corps of Engineers. November 2001. Retrieved 2016-11-04.