Bethesda Meeting House

Bethesda Meetinghouse

Front elevation, 2008
Location 9400 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, Maryland
Coordinates 39°0′35″N 77°5′54″W / 39.00972°N 77.09833°W / 39.00972; -77.09833Coordinates: 39°0′35″N 77°5′54″W / 39.00972°N 77.09833°W / 39.00972; -77.09833
Area 0 acres (0 ha)
Architectural style Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Other
NRHP Reference # 78003557[1]
Added to NRHP July 17, 1978

The Bethesda Meeting House (BMH) is a historic Presbyterian church complex located at Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA. It is situated on Maryland Route 355 (known as Rockville Pike at this point) just inside the Capital Beltway.

Description

The BMH property includes the 1850 meeting house itself, the mid-late 19th century parsonage to the south, and the associated cemetery. The church is a large, wood-frame structure built in the Greek Revival "temple" form, although it features Gothic-style windows throughout. To the south of the church is a two-story frame Victorian parsonage built on a cruciform plan, with some Queen Anne-style embellishments.[2]

History

The church was constructed on the foundation of an 1820 Presbyterian church which burned down in 1849. It served as the Bethesda Presbyterian Church from 1850 until 1925 when the congregation decided to erect a new church on Wilson Lane, farther south in Bethesda. When the church moved to its new location in 1925, the trustees sold the building and 7 acres (2.8 ha) of land to Mrs. May Fitch Kelley. The Presbyterian congregation, however, retained ownership of the cemetery.[2]

Mrs. Kelly lived in the church building for many years. In 1945, the property was sold to a Catholic missionary group known as the "White Fathers of Africa". In the 1950s, the property was transferred again, this time to the trustees of the Temple Hill Baptist Church.[2]

Legacy

References

  1. 1 2 Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 Rev. and Mrs. William B. Allen and Michael Dwyer (August 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Bethesda Meeting House" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
  3. Offutt, William; Sween, Jane (1999). Montgomery County: Centuries of Change. American Historical Press. pp. 161–162.

Other sources

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 27, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.