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Dana Meeting House

New Hampshire, US

Dana Meeting House

Dana Meeting House (also known as First Free Will Baptist Meeting House and Dr. Dana Meetinghouse) is a historic meeting house on Dana Hill Road in New Hampton, New Hampshire. The meeting house was built in 1800 by a Free Will Baptist congregation after the majority of the townspeople voted that the

town's tax-subsidized New Hampton Town House would be used by the Congregationalists. The Baptist congregation originally met in homes until its meeting house was completed, and the early congregation was opposed to a paid ministry. Originally, services were conducted in rotation by three men: Simeon Dana, a physician, Josiah Magoon, a Revolutionary War veteran, and Thomas Perkins, a legislator. The best known was Dr. Dana who regularly conducted Sunday worship services from 1803 to 1853 and became the namesake of the church. Notable early preachers included Benjamin Randall and John Colby. Church services were held on Sundays throughout the year until 1860, when regular Free Will Baptist services were discontinued. Various summer services were held in the meeting house after the 1860s. Rev. Adoniram Judson Gordon, a prominent minister who was a native of New Hampton, often preached at the...

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