Lynn and the surroundings

^^ong t>he^hu^&hes^THEfirst church in Lynn was formed in May, 1633, three yeai's after thesettlement of the town. In the order of church organizations in the Massachusettscolony, this was fifth — the church in Salem first ; next, that inCharlestown, which was afterwards removed to Boston ; next, that in Dorchester; next, in Roxbury ; next, in Lynn. All the churches organized priorto that in Lynn have ceased to be numbered among the churches of the Puritanfaith ; and the same is true of those planted before it in the Plymouth colony.Thus it may be said that the First Church in Lynn has been longer on the groundwhere it was originally planted than any Congregational Church in America,and the claim is made that it is the oldest living Congregational Chui-ch in theworld. The little house on Shepard street, which for fifty years sei-ved the purposesof a church, was a very modest structure,and the room where the people met for worshiphas been aptly described as " a basementwith no up-stairs," the floor being several feetbelow the ground outside. In 16S3 the mainportion of the house was moved to the Com-^--=- mon, and was metamorphosed into that singulararchitectural curiosity known as the OldTHE ORIGINAL FIRST CHURCH. Tuunel. The porch of the Shepard streethouse finally found its way to Harbor street, where it still does humble duty aspart of a dwelling. The country was sparsely settled, and though the churchwas made up of people from Lynn, Lynnfield and Saugus, the little house wasample for all requirements for half a century. The Old Tunnel meeting-housestood in the middle of the Common, and was the center of spiritual influences