Center Church on the Green

In 1638, John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton purchased the land that would become New Haven from the Quinnipiac tribe, with the intention of creating a theocratic colony just off the coast. That same year, Davenport preached his first sermon on the site at which Center Church on the Green (then called the First Ecclesiastical Society) still stands. The first meeting house was built on the site in 1639, and the current building—the congregation’s fourth meeting-house—has stood since 1814.

Over its nearly 400 years of existence, First Church has served crucial social, political, and religious functions for the city of New Haven. It was a crucial part of state government, and received state tax revenue, until the Connecticut state constitution was rewritten in 1818. One of its ministers, the Rev. James Pierpont, was instrumental in bringing Yale to New Haven in 1701. The basement of the current building houses a crypt in which many of the colony’s first residents—including Davenport and Eaton—have found their final resting places.

Today, Center Church is the centerpiece of the Green’s three churches. While its political and even social functions have dwindled drastically since the 18th and 19th centuries, it remains a vital historic and traditional monument in the center of the city’s most prominent public space. The congregation still worships every Sunday, making it the oldest church in the city.