North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meetinghouse facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meetinghouse
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The meetinghouse in 2022
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 Location in Maine
Location in the United States
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| Location | 3 Hillside St., Yarmouth, Maine |
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| 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 |
| Added to NRHP | November 20, 1978 |
The North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meetinghouse is a really old church in Yarmouth, Maine. People also call it the Old Baptist Meeting House. It was built way back in 1796. This church is thought to be the oldest one still standing in Maine that was built for a Baptist group. Today, the town owns it, and a local group helps take care of it.
What Does It Look Like?
The North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meetinghouse stands on Hillside Street. It is a tall building made of wood. The roof has two sloping sides, like a triangle. The outside walls are covered with overlapping wooden boards.
The front of the church has five sections. The middle three sections stick out a bit. A tall church tower rises from this middle part. The central section has three doors. The two outer doors have tall, pointed windows above them. The middle door has decorative columns on its sides.
The windows on the front of the church are tall and pointed. The windows on the sides are shaped like rectangles. The tower has a square bottom part. Above that is an open, eight-sided section where the bells would be. A pointed, cone-shaped spire sits on top of the tower.
A Look at Its History
The local Baptist group built this church in 1796. Reverend Thomas Green was chosen as its first pastor. He was one of the seven original members of the church.
In 1889, the Baptist group moved to a new church building. The next year, George W. Hammond and his wife, Ellen, bought the old meetinghouse. They opened it as the Hillside Library and Antiquarian Society. In 1910, they gave the building to the town. The town used it for important meetings until 1946.
During World War II, the building had a special job. It was used as an observation post. People would watch for enemy aircraft from there. In 1946, a group called the Village Improvement Society started taking care of the inside of the building. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. This means it is a very important historical site. Big repairs and updates happened in the early 2000s. Today, you can rent the building for events like weddings.
Nearby Cemetery
The Old Baptist Cemetery is right next to the meetinghouse. It is on the south side of the building. As you go through the gate, you will see some unique gravestones. There is a set of three gravestones that look like a billboard. Only about forty such gravestone sets are known to exist in Maine.
See also
