The East Church was formed in August, 1718, after a number of parishioners of the First Church living in the eastern section of Salem were so upset that they could not form another church, that they finally went ahead and built a church without permission. The First Church, amid continued dissension, finally voted for dismissal of those who wanted to join the East Church on Dec. 25, 1718, for "peace sake." By being dismissed from their covenant obligations to the First Church, the eastern members had effectively split the town into two parishes. In June 1717 materials for a new meeting house were procured, in August parishioners purchased a lot of land from Christopher Babbage, Jr. During August 27th to 29th, 1717, the meeting house was built.

The first sermon was preached in May, 1718, by Rev. Samuel Wigglesworth of Ipswich. By November 1718, the parish had asked Robert Stanton to be their pastor and he accepted. He was ordained on April 8, 1719 and the sermon was preached by Cotton Mather.

This congregation was firmly Puritan in it perspective through its first three pastors. In 1783, things began to change with the ordination of William Bentley to the position of colleague to the elderly pastor, James Diman. Dr. Bentley remained at East Church until his death in 1819. He was an exceptional scholar, linguist, and chronicler of his time in Salem. He led his congregation away from their puritan heritage into the first Universalist congregation in the United States.

After Dr. Bentley's sudden death in 1819, Dr. James Flint became pastor. It was during his tenure that the new church was built on Brown Street/ Washington Square North in 1844 to 1845. The church was designed by Minard Lafever, the nationally renowned architect from New York, who was famous for his Gothic Revival churches as well as other revival styles.

In 1897, the East Church united with the Barton Square Church and changed its name to The Second Unitarian Church. The East Church reunited with the First Church in 1956, and the former East Church building of 1844-1846 is now the Salem Witch Museum.

East Church Succession of Ministers

Robert Stanton 1719-1727

William Jennison 1728-1737

James Diman 1737-1788

William Bentley 1783-1819

James Flint 1821-1855

Dexter Clapp 1851-1864

Samuel C. Beane 1865-1878

George Herbert Hosmer 1879-1886

William Henry Ramsay 1886-1888

Edward D. Towle 1892-1897