North Billerica Baptist Church
North Billerica Baptist Church
The triangle bounded by Colson, Elm, and Lowell Streets was a vacant field known as "The Common", where soldiers drilled for the Civil War. In the field were several deep, conical holes said to have been made by the Native Americans.
On April 25, 1828, fifty people gathered at the Fordway School House and organized themselves into a Society for the promotion of Baptist preaching. North Billerica was then called Billerica Mills. Nineteen were members of the Baptist Church of South Chelmsford, who travelled there by team from Billerica. In 1830-31, they built a meeting house at the Corner at the end of Salem Road, overlooking the Concord River. On March 8, 1844, it was removed to the Center. Only those who owned horses and teams would attend church there. Mrs. Elvira Rogers Gould opened a Sunday School July 1, 1857 in the Middlesex Tavern, that stood at the corner of Elm and Wilson Streets. The average attendance was 83. Mr. Thomas Talbot gave it a library of 110 volumes and from time to time added 15-20 dollars worth and did so for ten years.
In 1868, there were 27 persons who wished to form a Baptist Church. They solicited funds to support preaching in the Tavern. Mr. Talbot offered to build a church at a cost of $10,000 and left $5000 as a fund devoted to its upkeep, even though he was not a Baptist himself.
In 1884, Mr. Talbot presented a bell to the church and extensive improvements were made a year later. From 1889 to 1896, the Thomas Talbot Masonic Lodge used the church as a meeting hall.
In 1911 and 1912, Lillian Kohlrausch presented beautiful windows to the church un memory of Charles H. Kohlrausch.