Historic Preservation
of the Union Church buidling
485 Columbus Ave, Boston, MA
Preservation in Progress
Our 1872 historic tower needs a bit of TLC. We anticipate a complete masonry repair and repointing project in 2026-2027. This work is part of a multi-phase effort to completely restore this historic sanctuary and community center.
Having recently completed a full roof replacement (2024) and accessibility renovation (2021), this exterior preservation project paves the way for interior renovations that will enable Union Church to become a 24/7 community center with a commercial community kitchen, co-working space, and media/arts lab.
We are grateful for your generous support:
1876 print in American Architects and Building News
Public Benefit
Union Church is the South End home to the Age Strong Commission, Boston Children’s Chorus, Friends of Titus Sparrow Park, Friends of Harriet Tubman Park, and the Boston Jazz Foundation.
For generations, Union has honored the history, leadership, and cultural contributions of Boston’s marginalized communities, including the Black, immigrant, LGBTQ+, and working-class residents who have shaped this city.
As the last Black church in the South End, Union is a community cornerstone serving the public good through civic change and cultural expression, including the 1950 NAACP National Convention, the 1966 Duke Ellington Sacred Jazz concert, and the 2023 funeral for Mel King. Union is home to community meals, youth education, senior engagement, arts, and activism. Protecting the building ensures that history is not erased and history can keep being made.
Architecture
The Union Church building was erected in the High Victorian Gothic Revival style by Congregationalists amidst the Unitarian/Trinitarian controversy. Built by members of the progressive Old South Church and the evangelical Park Street Church — and thus named "Union" — as a missional outpost during Boston's expansion into the filled land of the South End / Lower Roxbury.
Union's architecture incorporates an imposing cruciform structure and towering spire as tribute to divine grandeur in the wake of the Transcendentalist movement. Designed by prominent local architect Alexander R. Estey and patterned after English country churches, the Union Church building quite literally embodies the unique theological context of New England that has shaped the American religious landscape.
Constructed from local Roxbury puddingstone (masonry), Nova Scotia Sandstone (quoins), and Eastern White Pine (windows), Union Church "integrates" both indigenous and international building materials – making the edifice distinctively American. Built by locals during the Third Great Awakening, our edifice is a unique example of 19th century religious Americana. This is to say, the building maintains a large and enduring footprint on its neighborhood as a faith community.
