Christ Church (Quincy, Massachusetts)

	Christ Church
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	12 Quincy Ave., Quincy, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°14′43″N 70°59′59″W / 42.24528°N 70.99972°W
Built	1874
Architect	Unknown
Architectural style	Tudor Revival, Other
MPS	Quincy MRA
NRHP reference No.	89001369
Added to NRHP	September 20, 1989

Christ Church is a historic church building at 12 Quincy Avenue in Quincy, Massachusetts. It is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.^[2] The parish first congregated for lay-led services in 1689, and officially formed in 1704. It is believed to be the oldest continuously active parish in Massachusetts.^[3] The building is a Tudor Revival structure constructed in 1874; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.^[1] The Rev. Clifford Brown is the current rector.

Description and history

Christ Church is set at the northeast corner of Quincy and Elm Streets, south of Quincy's central business district. It is built out of local granite, with a steeply-pitched slate roof. The front-facing gable houses a large arched stained glass window, and the side walls have modest buttressing. Entry vestibules project to either side, in emulation of the English country churches its design recalls. A Tudor Revival parish house is attached to the rear.^[4]

The parish was formally organized in 1704 by Rev. William Barclay, when the area was still part of Braintree, and built its first church on School Street in 1727 (at the site of the Christ Church Burial Ground. It built stone churches at the present site in 1832 and 1859, both of which were destroyed by fire. The present church was built in 1874, in an English Revival style that was then in vogue for Episcopal churches.^[4]