First Baptist Church

For a long time, the First Church was the only religious structure in Billerica. After the Revolution, however, people began to look for alternatives, and Baptist preaching soon became popular. At first, Baptists had to travel by team and wagon to South Chelmsford to find a Baptist preacher. In 1828, however, they decided to organize, and built themselves a church big enough to seat 300 people. The frame was raised, November 30, 1830, and it was dedicated September 14, 1831. It was fifty feet long, forty feet wide, and had forty-eight pews. In 1844 there was a spilt in the congregation and it was decided to move the Church to its present location in Billerica Center. It took 120 oxen to drag the building to its new site and there was one near disaster when the building fell into a ditch, but the building survived. Since that time, although another Baptist church was built in North Billerica in 1878, the Church has remained an important structure in the town.

By 1923, the congregation had dwindled, and the church was sold to the Grange, which then resold it to the Roman Catholic Church. The building was modified slightly, with the installation of stained glass windows and interior alterations, and possibly a new single entrance, for use as a mission of St. Andrew's Catholic Church in North Billerica. When the need for additional worship space subsided, it was used for a while as a parish hall, but in 1985, the Catholic Church sold it to Joseph Shaw, who remodeled the interior of the church to contain five bedrooms for use as a boarding house. During Shaw's ownership, the building was re-sided in 1989, and in 1996, after a fire, the damaged steeple was rebuilt, and the roof replaced. Shaw sold the building in 1998 to the Metivia family, who installed the new small shed behind the building and repaired the roof again. The current use of the building is listed as "apartment house."

References

1. MACRIS BIL.9