1. The original stone meetinghouse
The original stone meetinghouse (shown right) was built in 1895 with the main entrance stairs on the Sound Beach Avenue side of the Bell Tower. In those days the Bell Tower had only one bell.
There was a Sunday School room attached to the meetinghouse, with a sliding glass door. After the June Binney Parish House was completed in 1931, the wall for the Sunday School room was removed so that the meetinghouse could seat more people. Sunday School classes were then held in various rooms of the Parish House. During the baby boom classes for 7th and 8th graders were held up in the Bell Tower (at the level below the bells)!
There was a permanent staircase in those days going up into the Bell Tower. That staircase in the foyer was replaced by a pull-down stairs from the ceiling of the Bell Tower foyer when the meetinghouse was expanded in 1961-62 and the outside stairs shown in the diagram and photo on the right were replaced by the current stairs on the driveway side. |