The Rockingham Meeting House was built in 1787 and restored in 1907. The meetinghouse is in almost original condition and is the oldest of meetinghouse in Vermont with the exception of one other. However, that building has had a lot of alterations. The meetinghouse is on the national register and is the best example in New England of this type of building. It is considered a church and in order to keep its church status a service needs to be held at least once a year. So every first Sunday in August a service is held at 3:00pm.
The pews inside the meetinghouse are of 'pigpen' style. Interestingly, that meant that some people actually had their backs to the minister as he gave his sermon. Each family had their own pew. Some of the pews have plaques on them...
There is a really neat graveyard right next to the meetinghouse. The gravestones are old and very interesting. However, rubbing the gravestones is not allowed.
Outside in the shed is an old horse drawn hearse. The fascinating thing about the hearse is that there is a lever underneath it to bring up a spike in the back where the coffin would be. The reason for the spike is so the coffin doesn't fall out of the hearse. You see, the meetinghouse is located on top of a very steep hill. I wonder how those people felt about the spike in their back? I don't have a picture of that hearse. As you can tell by my other pictures it was a rainy day and the hearse is stored in a dark shed...
Other than the meetinghouse, there really isn't much else to do in Rockingham, Vermont. Brattleboro is about an hour south and Chester about 20 minutes north. If you are going to Chester - the Rockingham Meetinghouse does make an interesting stop to add to your day.
For more pictures of the Rockingham Meetinghouse, go to the Photo Gallery.
Directions: Off Route 103 on Meetinghouse Road, north of Bellows Falls, Vermont
Mailing Address: 29 Oak Hill Terrace; Bellows Falls, VT 05101
Contact Person: John Leppman
Hours: Summer, 10am - 5pm
Admission: Donation 50 cents
