20: Evangelical Baptist Church

The Evangelical Baptist Church is significant architecturally as an early 19th century church that was adapted to the needs and tastes of later generations. Beginning as a Greek Revival church, it subsequently acquired an attractive Victorian exterior and a fine early 20th century auditorium.

 In 1871, while located on its original site at the corner of Church and North Main Street, the Congregationalists, updated the building to include a new three-story tower projecting slightly from the main facade and above the tower, a new steeple with belfry, clock stages, and a tall octagonal spire that reached some 170 feet above the street making it the tallest structure in the community.

In December 1902, the congregation abandoned the church when the building sustained extensive damage from the explosion and fire at the Masonic Temple nearby on Main Street.  The Congregationalists voted to build a new church and to sell the old building to the People's Christian Church Society. The People's Christian Church moved the building of the church 200 feet away to Veterans Square (Depot Square).

In September 1938, the great hurricane toppled the upper steeple, the belfry, clock stages, and the spire. The exterior, with the major exception of the steeple, appears today as it did in 1872.

The church is now home to the CAKE Theatre.

Laconia City Walk
  1. 1: Belknap Mill
  2. 2: Busiel Mill
  3. 3: Avery Dam
  4. 4: Guild-Northland Mills
  5. 5: Sunrise Towers
  6. 6: Stewart Park
  7. 7: Main Street and Urban Renewal
  8. 8: Allen-Rogers Buildings
  9. 9: Laconia Car Company
  10. 10: Pitman's Freight Room
  11. 11: Laconia Passenger Station
  12. 12: Bank Square
  13. 13: Rotary Park
  14. 14: McIntyre Building
  15. 15: Moulton Opera House
  16. 16: Pleasant Street Homes
  17. 17: Federal Building
  18. 18: Gale Memorial Library
  19. 19: Veterans Square
  20. 20: Evangelical Baptist Church
  21. 21: Congregational Church
  22. 22: Bank of New Hampshire
  23. 23: Woolworth Building
  24. 24: Cook Building
  25. 25: Pemaco Block
  26. 26: Colonial Theatre
  27. 27: Piscopo Block
  28. 28: Masonic Temple
  29. 29: Stafford House/Tavern
  30. 30: U.S. Post Office
  31. 31: John W Busiel House
  32. 32: St. Joseph Church
  33. 33: Perley Canal