2009-05-21 / Front Page

Early Northfield about 1837

Photo of Painting courtesy of Brown Public Library Photo of Painting courtesy of Brown Public Library

This painting by Mary Ann Paine hangs over one of the fireplaces in the Brown Public Library. It shows Northfield in its early days. Learn more in Voices From The Past on Page 4. Notice the United Church with only three windows in the painting. The church had been built in 1836 as the Paine Meeting House and was purchased in 1855 by the Congregational Church for $2,900. Sometime between 1855 and 1861, Issac B. Howe, an engineer, got permission to build underneath the church. The building was cut in two and between the sections a middle section was built, the entire building raised and the hall built beneath. After the extension, the church had four windows as we see them today along each side. The hall below the church is still known as Howe's Hall.

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