First Church of Christ
The history of the First Church of Christ reaches back to the establishment of Sandwich itself. The congregation was organized in 1638, only a year after the town was incorporated, when religious and civic life in colonial New England were closely connected. The early meetinghouse served not only as a place of worship but also as the setting in which residents gathered to conduct the business of the town.
A Congregational chapel was first constructed at the present location in 1813. The building that stands there today was designed by Cambridgeport architect Isaac Melvin and completed in 1848. Its graceful Greek Revival façade, tall columns and carefully proportioned pediment gave the church a much different appearance from the plain meetinghouses that had characterized earlier New England communities.
The church is particularly recognized for its elaborate multistage spire. Its design has often been compared to the London church spires created by Sir Christopher Wren following the Great Fire of London in 1666. Rising high above the surrounding village, the spire became both a defining feature of the Sandwich skyline and a familiar landmark visible from a considerable distance.
The building also holds an unexpected place in American popular culture. The church appeared on the cover of Elvis Presley’s 1967 gospel album, How Great Thou Art. This unlikely connection introduced the historic Sandwich church to an audience far beyond Cape Cod and continues to attract the attention of Elvis enthusiasts.
The First Church and the Town Hall now stand close to one another in the heart of Sandwich. Their proximity recalls the time when religious and civic responsibilities were conducted together, while their separate buildings reflect the eventual constitutional separation of church and government in Massachusetts. The church therefore preserves more than the history of one congregation. It represents the changing relationship among faith, community and public life across nearly four centuries of Sandwich history.
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