The first Meeting House was built in 1665 and the first minister was Moses Noyes. New buildings were constructed in 1689 and 1738. The present building was erected in 1816-7 by architect Samuel Belcher, Belcher also designed the John Sill and William Noyes houses on Lyme Street.[2] The building was burnt down in a July 3, 1907 fire, then rebuilt with help from artists at the Old Lyme art colony in 1908-9.
Impressionist Childe Hassam depicted the church in a series of three celebrated paintings from 1903 to 1906. One hangs in the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, New York.[5] Another is displayed in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York.[6][7] Hassam's paintings helped bring publicity to the Old Lyme art colony and helped tourism in the town. Other artists at the colony, including Charles Ebert and Everett Warner (in about 1911), also tried their hands at painting the church.
^Riess, Jana (2002). The spiritual traveler: Boston and New England: A guide to sacred sites and peaceful places. Hidden Spring. p. 271. ISBN978-1-58768-008-3.
^ART; Art Takes a Prominent Spot In Chester's New Synagogue, By WILLIAM ZIMMER, New York Times, December 9, 2001 [2]