North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meetinghouse | |
Location | 3 Hillside St., Yarmouth, Maine |
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Coordinates | 43°48′13″N70°11′46″W / 43.80361°N 70.19611°W Coordinates: 43°48′13″N70°11′46″W / 43.80361°N 70.19611°W |
Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
Built | 1796 |
Architect | Capt. Samuel Melcher Anthony Raymond |
Architectural style | Colonial, Federal, Gothic and Greek Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 78000174 [1] |
Added to NRHP | November 20, 1978 |
The North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meetinghouse, also known as the Old Baptist Meeting House, is an historic church on Hillside Street in Yarmouth, Maine. Built in 1796 and twice altered in the 19th century, it is believed to be the oldest surviving church built for a Baptist congregation in the state of Maine. [2] It is now owned by the town and maintained by a local non-profit organization.
The North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meetinghouse is located on the west side of Hillside Street, a short way south of Maine State Route 115 on the west side of Yarmouth village. It is a tall single-story wood frame structure, with a gabled roof and clapboard siding. The front facade is five bays wide, the central three projecting in a gable-topped section from which the church tower rises. The central section has three doors, the outer ones topped by lancet-arched windows, the center one framed by pilasters and a corniced entablature. Windows on the front are tall lancet-arched sash, while those on the sides are rectangular sash. The tower has a square first stage, with an open octagonal belfry topped by a conical flush-boarded spire. [2]
The church building was constructed in 1796 by the local Baptist congregation. Reverend Thomas Green, one of its seven original members, was elected its first pastor. [3] In 1889 the Baptist congregation moved to its current location at 346 Main Street. The following year, George W. Hammond and his wife, Ellen, purchased the meetinghouse and re-opened it as the Hillside Library and Antiquarian Society. [4] In 1910 they donated the building to the town, and it was used for town meetings until 1946. During World War II the building was used by the Civilian Defense System as an observation post, looking for enemy aircraft. In 1946 the Village Improvement Society took over responsibility for the interior of the building. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Major renovations occurred in the early 2000s. The building is currently available for weddings and other events. [5]
The Old Baptist Cemetery is adjacent to the meetinghouse on its southern side. It contains around 950 burials. [6] Immediately inside the gate, on the left-hand side, is a billboard-style trio of gravestones — one of two in the cemetery, but only around forty are known to have been found in Maine. [7]
The Primitive Baptist Church of Brookfield, also known as the Old School Baptist Meeting House, is located along US 6 in Slate Hill, New York, United States, a hamlet of the Town of Wawayanda in Orange County. It was built in 1792, when the settlement was known as Brookfield. It is one of the oldest extant church buildings in the county, and one of the earliest buildings in the settlement that became Slate Hill.
The Second Rindge Meetinghouse, Horsesheds and Cemetery is a historic meeting house and cemetery on Old US 202 and Rindge Common in Rindge, New Hampshire. Built in 1796, it is relatively distinctive in New England as one of few such meeting houses where both civic and religious functions are still accommodated, housing both the town offices and a church congregation. The town's first cemetery, established in 1764, lies to the north of the meetinghouse. It is the resting place of many of Rindge's early settlers, and of its American Revolutionary War veterans. Behind the meetinghouse stand a row of horse sheds, the only one of the two rows of them which originally served the meetinghouse. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The Center Meetinghouse is a historic meetinghouse on NH 103 in Newbury, New Hampshire. The Federal-style church building was built c. 1832, a relatively late date for the style. It replaced a 1797 meetinghouse that had been located about a mile away. It is further believed to be distinctive in New Hampshire as the only Federal period church in which the pulpit is located at the rear of the auditorium. Originally built to be used by multiple religious denominations, it is now operated by a local nonprofit organization as a community center. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
First Parish Church is an historic church at 425 Congress Street in Portland, Maine. Built in 1825 for a congregation established in 1674, it is the oldest church building in the city, and one of its finest examples of Federal period architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The congregation is Unitarian Universalist; its pastor is Reverend Christina Sillari.
The First Parish Congregational Church is a historic church at 116 Main Street in Yarmouth, Maine. The congregation was established in 1730, as the ninth church founded in what is now Maine. The current Italianate meeting house was constructed in 1867–68, and is an important surviving design of Portland architect George M. Harding. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. The present congregation is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.
The Elijah Kellogg Church is a historic Congregationalist church at 917 Harpswell Neck Road in Harpswell, Maine. Built in 1843, it is a well-preserved example of Greek and Gothic Revival architecture, and is further notable for its longtime association with Rev. Elijah Kellogg, a well-known 19th-century writer of children's books. The church building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The church is affiliated with the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches; its pastor is John Carson.
Union Church is a historic church on United States Route 302 in Naples, Maine. Built in 1857, it is an excellent local example of Greek Revival architecture with Gothic features. Built for use by three different church groups, it now serves as a summer church and community hall. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The Elder Grey Meetinghouse is a historic church on Chadbourne Ridge Road in North Waterboro, Maine. Built in 1806, it is one of Maine's oldest churches. The building is now maintained by a preservation association, which hosts annual services each August. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The Center Meeting House and Common is a historic meeting house at 476 Main Street in Oxford, Maine. The town of Oxford was incorporated in 1829, and the common was laid out soon thereafter. The meeting house, which served as a home for a diversity of religious congregations as well as town meetings, was built in 1830. Significant locally for their cultural and political history, they were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
The Oxford Congregational Church and Cemetery is a historic church and cemetery in Oxford, Maine, located on the east side of King Street, 0.2 miles (0.32 km) north of its junction with Maine State Route 121. Built in 1842-3, the church is architecturally significant as a good local example of Greek Revival and Gothic Revival style, and is artistically significant for a decorative stenciled trompe-l'œil artwork on the ceiling and sanctuary end wall. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The Free Will Baptist Church and Cemetery is a historic church property on Church Turn Road in North Islesboro, Maine. Built in 1843 and enlarged in the 1890s, the church is a fine example of Greek Revival architecture, and is particularly noted for its well-preserved mid-19th century stenciled artwork, whose quality and level of preservation are among the best in the state. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It is now owned by a local nonprofit organization.
The Bingham Free Meetinghouse is a historic church on South Main Street in Bingham, Maine. Built in 1835–36, this wood-frame structure was the first church to be built north of Caratunk Falls in northwestern Maine. The building is architecturally transitional, exhibiting both Federal and Gothic Revival elements. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The Former First Baptist Church is a historic church building at 37 Main Street in Skowhegan, Maine. Built in 1842-44, this Greek Revival brick building is one of the few works attributable to a local master builder, Joseph Bigelow. It was used as a church until 1919, after which it was used as a community center, and then a VFW hall until 2009. It is vacant, with plans to establish a performance and meeting venue; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
The Guilford Center Meeting House, formerly the Guilford Center Universalist Church, is a historic building on Guilford Center Road in Guilford, Vermont. Built in 1837, it is a well-preserved example of transitional Greek Revival architecture. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It is now owned by the local historical society as a community meeting and event space.
Yarmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, twelve miles north of the state's largest city, Portland. When originally settled in 1636, as North Yarmouth, it was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and remained part of its subsequent incarnations for 213 years. In 1849, twenty-nine years after Maine's admittance to the Union as the twenty-third state, it was incorporated as the Town of Yarmouth.
The historical buildings and structures of Yarmouth, Maine, represent a variety of building styles and usages, largely based on its past as home to almost sixty mills over a period of roughly 250 years. These mills include that of grain, lumber, pulp and cotton. Additionally, almost three hundred vessels were launched by Yarmouth's shipyards in the century between 1790 and 1890, and the homes of master shipwrights and ship captains can still be found throughout the town.
George Warren Hammond was an American businessman. Camp Hammond, in Yarmouth, Maine, is named for him. He was also one of its architects. Built in 1889, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Old Baptist Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. Dating to the late 17th century, it stands on Hillside Street, adjoining the North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meetinghouse, a National Register of Historic Places property, on its southern side. It is the only burial site in the town attached to an extant church building.
The First Baptist Church is a historic church at 346 Main Street in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. The congregation was established in 1796 at the nearby North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meetinghouse. It moved to its current location in 1889.
Church Street is a historic street in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. It runs for about 425 feet (142 yd) from West Elm Street in the east to Hillside Street in the west. It was one of the first streets laid out after the town's population moved inland from the Broad Cove area in the 19th century. Several of its buildings are homes dating to the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
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