The Charlotte Meeting House
Encyclopedia
The Charlotte Meeting House was built in 1840 by the Methodist Congregation of Charlotte, Vermont
. In 1952 it was moved to the Shelburne Museum
in Shelburne, Vermont
. It now serves as an exhibit building on the museum grounds.
By 1899 it had ceased to function as a church and was taken over by a group of thirteen young women who had formed an amateur theatrical group and used the building as a playhouse. In 1902, the group incorporated as the Breezy Point Library Association and bought the building to serve as the town library. Charles W. Henry, Vermont's foremost painted theater curtain artist, often painted backdrops for the association's productions.
After a windstorm damaged the building in 1950, the association voted to sell it to the Shelburne Museum
so that it could be preserved. In 1952, the Shelburne Museum
dismantled the building and moved it to the grounds finding replacements for missing or damaged elements, including the belfry, pews, and pulpit, in an abandoned church in Milton, Vermont
. The interior plaster walls were painted in tones of white and grey to resemble paneled woodwork(see Trompe-l'œil).
s were designed. The church plan refers to a rectangular structure with a pitched roof and incorporated bell tower with its entrance located along the structure’s short axis and the pulpit positioned opposite. Since the church plan and the word church connoted Anglicanism
, Puritan
communities used the term meeting house to refer to the building they used for both secular and religious meetings.
Puritans, and later Congregationalists, traditionally constructed their meeting houses on a square or rectangular plan with hipped roofs, a separate bell tower, and the entrance and pulpit situated on the long sides of the building. By the late eighteenth century, as communities began to distinguish between meeting houses and churches, Protestant communities adopted both the title “church” and the associated plan in designing their religious buildings.
The Meeting House’s triangular pediment
, accented with cornice
moldings, reflects the pervasiveness of Greek Revival Architecture in the mid-nineteenth century. The lack of other adornment, typical of the Greek Revival style, lent itself well to New England Protestant architecture.
Charlotte, Vermont
Charlotte is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for Sofia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, youngest daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.The population was 3,569 at the 2000 census....
. In 1952 it was moved to the Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
in Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne is a town in southwestern Chittenden County, Vermont, United States, along the shores of Lake Champlain. The population was 7,144 at the 2010 census.-History:...
. It now serves as an exhibit building on the museum grounds.
History
The building was originally erected by the Charlotte Methodist Church in 1840, after their original wooden structure was destroyed in a fire in 1837.By 1899 it had ceased to function as a church and was taken over by a group of thirteen young women who had formed an amateur theatrical group and used the building as a playhouse. In 1902, the group incorporated as the Breezy Point Library Association and bought the building to serve as the town library. Charles W. Henry, Vermont's foremost painted theater curtain artist, often painted backdrops for the association's productions.
After a windstorm damaged the building in 1950, the association voted to sell it to the Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
so that it could be preserved. In 1952, the Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
dismantled the building and moved it to the grounds finding replacements for missing or damaged elements, including the belfry, pews, and pulpit, in an abandoned church in Milton, Vermont
Milton, Vermont
Milton is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The population was 10,352 at the 2010 census. According to local legend, the town was named for the English poet John Milton, but the name most likely originated from William FitzWilliam, 4th Earl FitzWilliam, who held the title...
. The interior plaster walls were painted in tones of white and grey to resemble paneled woodwork(see Trompe-l'œil).
Architecture
The structure reflects the stylistic tendencies established in the last decade of 18th century when the church plan became the standard on which meeting houseMeeting house
A meeting house describes a building where a public meeting takes place. This includes secular buildings which function like a town or city hall, and buildings used for religious meetings, particularly of some non-conformist Christian denominations....
s were designed. The church plan refers to a rectangular structure with a pitched roof and incorporated bell tower with its entrance located along the structure’s short axis and the pulpit positioned opposite. Since the church plan and the word church connoted Anglicanism
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
, Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
communities used the term meeting house to refer to the building they used for both secular and religious meetings.
Puritans, and later Congregationalists, traditionally constructed their meeting houses on a square or rectangular plan with hipped roofs, a separate bell tower, and the entrance and pulpit situated on the long sides of the building. By the late eighteenth century, as communities began to distinguish between meeting houses and churches, Protestant communities adopted both the title “church” and the associated plan in designing their religious buildings.
The Meeting House’s triangular pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
, accented with cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
moldings, reflects the pervasiveness of Greek Revival Architecture in the mid-nineteenth century. The lack of other adornment, typical of the Greek Revival style, lent itself well to New England Protestant architecture.