ROCKINGHAM, Vt. – The Rockingham Meeting House opened for the 2023 season on Saturday, May 27. Visitors are welcome daily through the end of October, from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Built in 1787, the meeting house remains in its original form, and is the oldest public building in Vermont that remains unchanged. It is designated a National Historic Landmark.
It served as both a place of worship and the town hall until 1869, and was then abandoned for several decades. In 1906, the building was restored to its current state – one of the earliest historic preservation projects in Vermont – leaving intact its king-post timber framing, finely detailed woodwork, and its “pig pen” box pews. The building hosts an annual pilgrimage in August, as part of the town’s “Old Home Days” celebrations.
The meeting house is owned by the Town of Rockingham and operated as a museum, with docents on hand to tell the story about the architecture and history of the building. The adjacent cemetery, which continues in use today, contains more than 1,000 graves, and is a treasure trove of information about the lives and deaths of the town’s early settlers, as well as some of the finest gravestone art to be found in New England.
The meeting house is located just north of the Village of Bellows Falls and Interstate 91 Exit 6, just off Vermont Route 103.
For more information, contact the Rockingham Historic Preservation Commission at clg@rockbf.org.