The Churches of Rye, NH
Although the first settlers arrived in Rye, NH, in 1623, the first church was not formed until 1726.
For about 90 years the people of Rye had no settled ministry of the gospel among them, but attended public worship in some of the neighboring towns as it was most convenient, particularly at Portsmouth and Newcastle.* [Parsons, 149]
The First Meeting House of Rye, NH
The first meeting house in Rye, NH, was built in 1725 and was west of the present Congregational Church on Washington Road. It was not completed until 1729. It had a tower in front and a steeple which was not finally finished until 1756. [Parsons, 160]
A church was formed July 20, 1726, and the first minister settled here was the Reverend Nathaniel Morrill. [Parsons, 149]
*Rye was…for many years styled the “Parish of Rye in New Castle.” Only since…the Revolutionary War has it exercised town privileges; before that time it acted in conjunction with Newcastle in the choice of representatives and in usual town business. [Parsons, 149]
Parsons, Langdon Brown. History of the Town of Rye, New Hampshire: From Its Discovery and Settlement to December 31, 1903. United States: Rumford Print. Company, 1905.
