Greenfield Meeting House
building in New Hampshire, United States
The Greenfield Meeting House is a historic meeting house on Forest Road in the center of Greenfield, New Hampshire. The two-story wood-frame building was built in 1795; it is one of a small number of 18th century meeting houses in New Hampshire, and is believed to be the oldest still used for both religious and secular purposes, hosting both church services and town functions. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Description and history
The Greenfield Meeting House is located on a rise overlooking the village center of Greenfield, on the north side of Forest Road between Sawmill and Francestown Roads. When originally built, it was roughly square, with a gallery instead of full second floor, and porches at the gable ends that sheltered stairs to the gallery level. The bell tower was added in 1825, and the gallery level was filled out in 1848. In 1867 the building underwent major alterations: it was rotated ninety degrees and raised two feet, a vestibule was built, and the belltower placed atop it. These alterations transformed the previously Federal-style building into one that resembles a more typical Greek Revival structure. A clock manufactured by E. Howard & Co. was installed in the tower in 1895.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Greenfield Meeting House” as building in New Hampshire, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as building in New Hampshire, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5603971. Authority coordinates are 42.951, -71.873. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1795, 1983, 1825 and 1848.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Greenfield Meeting House”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Greenfield Meeting House primary sources, Greenfield Meeting House archive and Greenfield research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Greenfield Meeting House”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Greenfield Meeting House” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.