Old Ship Church

Walking through Hingham, Massachusetts, one of the oldest towns in the Commonwealth, first settled in 1633 and incorporated in 1635, it doesn’t take long to sense how deeply the past is woven into the town’s streets. No place captures that feeling more than the Old Ship Church, a building that has anchored this community for more than three centuries 

Constructed in 1681, the Old Ship Church is the only surviving 17th-century Puritan meetinghouse in the United States, and it is recognized as the oldest church building in continuous use for worship in the country. The congregation dates back even further, to 1635, making this site one of the earliest centers of organized community life in New England.

For generations, this meeting house served as a place of worship as well as a place for neighbors to gather. It stood through colonial settlement, revolution, the birth of a nation and centuries of change.

In recognition of this remarkable legacy, the Old Ship Church was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, one of the highest honors given to historic structures in the United States. In 1966, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places ensuring its preservation for generations to come.

Today, the Old Ship Church remains an architectural treasure as well as a living landmark.