The original meetinghouse was built here in 1769 on land donated by John Eliot. The original white clapboard church was made possible through the funding of Benjamin Pemberton and his wife Susannah. It is said that Susannah, the niece of Peter Faneuil, was unhappy with having to journey to Fort Hill to attend services at the First Church or Roxbury. So she convinced her husband to pay for a church nearer their home in Jamaica Plain. It was, officially, the Third Church of Roxbury. It actually took three years to get it founded and some sums of money had to be paid to the First and Second Parishes before they finally agreed to allow another parish. During the Siege of Boston, town meetings were held here. The Third Church also housed sessions of the General Court of Massachusetts in 1778. The present structure was erected in 1853. The architect was Nathaniel Bradlee. In 1864 the church became the First Congregational Society of Jamaica Plain and today it is the First Church in Jamaica Plain, Unitarian Universalist. There is a shingle-style addition on the back dating from 1895 (serving as the parish hall.)