The town’s first meetinghouse had been built on the town common in 1702 and was still in use in 1800 but, according to the Historical Address in the 1874 Centennial Book, it was “so dilapidated that the winds and rain had free entrance and exit”. The Historical Address also states, “It is said that at a public meeting the rain came down so abundantly that a member proposed they should adjourn under a tree for shelter”.
Building a new meetinghouse on the town common, which was public land, was out of the question since the new State and Federal Constitutions required the separation of church and state. Therefore it was proposed, by some, to build the new building on Clay Hill, now known as White Church Hill. This idea was not without controversy since those who lived in the downtown and Merrick neighborhoods wanted the new church to be built in the downtown while those who lived in Ashleyville wanted the church further north, closer to where they lived.
The dilemma was solved when Deacon John Ashley, who lived on what is now Brush Hill Avenue, agreed to pay for the construction of the church if-and-only-if it was built on Clay Hill and used for at least 100 years. All agreed to the proposition, a seven acre lot on Clay Hill was bought from Benjamin Stebbins for $50.00 and the church was built, with John Ashley’s funds, for $1400.00 and 10 gallons of rum!
The meetinghouse on Mount Orthodox as Clay Hill was soon dubbed, was built “on a standard five bay plan” with a projecting square tower in the center of the gable end. The entrances are enhanced by Federal Moldings and have a Palladian window above the center entrance. The tower features a two-stage belfry and a steeple. Ship builders from the boat yard near the common helped raise the steeple and the bell from the old meetinghouse, on the common, was hung in the belfry. This bell, cast in 1743, originally bore the markings of the Paul Revere Foundry but is was recast in 1761 and 1882 and no longer bears that inscription.
The organ - a Johnson Pipe Organ - was installed in1855 and is still operational. Prior to 1855 the congregation sang hymns to a bass viol which is on display in the Josiah Day House today.
Perhaps because many of the parishioners didn’t want to move up to Mount Orthodox in the first place, the history of the “White Church” has not been one of peace and serenity. In 1843 a group left the church in a dispute over slavery. This group eventually formed the Mittineague Congregational Church, which is still active in town today.
In 1871 a second group, deciding not to honor John Ashley’s request that the White Church be used for at least 100 years, left the church and formed the Park Street Church Society. This group built the beautiful stone Congregational Church across from the town common.
Those parishioners who, in 1871, chose to honor the memory of John Ashley, stayed on at Mount Orthodox until 1902 when they too abandoned the church and moved down the hill to rejoin the Park Street Society which was renamed the First Congregational Church – First Parish.
In 1918 the Inhabitants of the First Parish of West Springfield sold the lot where the White Church stands to the Mount Orthodox Lodge of Masons who had been leasing the building for several years prior to that date. The sale did not include the cemetery, which was retained by the First Parish. The building is still owned by the Masons in 2003.