Evangelical Baptist Church (Laconia, New Hampshire)

The Evangelical Baptist Church (also known as Meredith Bridge Congregational Church or Laconia Congregational) is a historic church building on Veterans Square in Laconia, New Hampshire, United States.  Built in 1836 and extensively restyled in 1871, it is a fine 19th-century building, illustrating adaptive alterations made over time to reflect changing uses and tastes.  The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.  The building now houses a restaurant.

Description and history
The former Evangelical Baptist Church building stands on the east side of Veterans Square in central Laconia, adjacent to the current Congregational church, and across from the former train station.  It is a two-story wood frame structure, with a gabled roof and clapboarded exterior.  A square tower projects slightly from the front facade, rising to an octagonal spire.  The building corners have paneled pilasters, which rise to an entablature and modillioned cornice.  Ground floor windows are small rectangular sash, while the upper floor windows are tall with rounded arches, and embedded pairs of round-arch windows within.

The church was built in 1836 for a Congregationalist congregation, replacing an older church which had burned. Originally built with Greek Revival features, it underwent major exterior alterations in 1871, adding a second floor (by raising the building and building a new lower level), and a taller tower. The church was extensively damaged in 1902, when a fire in the city center set off gunpowder at a nearby hardware store. The damaged building was purchased by a Baptist congregation, and moved to its present location in 1903. The upper stages of the tower were toppled in the New England Hurricane of 1938, resulting in the construction of a new steeple and the installation of a new bell. The Evangelical Baptist Church was the last congregation to occupy the building before moving to the former Our Lady of the Lakes campus on Washington Street in Lakeport in 2013. The building is now The Holy Grail Restaurant and Pub.

See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Belknap County, New Hampshire

References

External links
Evangelical Baptist Church website

Category:Baptist churches in New Hampshire
Category:Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire
Category:Carpenter Gothic church buildings in New Hampshire
Category:Churches completed in 1836
Category:19th-century Baptist churches in the United States
Category:Churches in Belknap County, New Hampshire
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Belknap County, New Hampshire
Category:Buildings and structures in Laconia, New Hampshire