Former Methodist Yarmouth ME
by Dick Botkin
Title
Former Methodist Yarmouth ME
Artist
Dick Botkin
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Yarmouth, Maine is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, located approximately ten to fifteen miles north of Portland. Its population was 8,349 in the 2010 census.
There are five churches in Yarmouth. Four of these are located on Main Street. They are (from east to west):
• First Universalist (built 1860)
• First Parish Congregational (built 1867)
• Sacred Heart Catholic (built 1929)
• First Baptist (built 1889)
St. Bartholomew's Episcopal is on Gilman Road, heading towards Cousins Island.
The First Parish Congregational was originally known as the Meeting House Under the Ledge and was located facing Casco Bay at the intersection of Route 88 and Gilman Road. That structure, which was founded on November 18 1730, was torn down in 1836, sixteen years after it was abandoned by the Parish. Only its doorstep remains. The second, larger church was built in 1818, at the western corner of Main and Bridge Streets, but it was abandoned in 1868 and torn down in 1879. The present church, designed by Portland architect George N. Harding, was built on the other side of Main Street in 1867 and dedicated the following year. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 A plaque commemorating the 275th anniversary of the church was laid on November 18, 2005. The church's steeple is illuminated every night, sometimes in honor of a member or a relative.
The Old Baptist Meeting House, on Hillside Street, was built in 1796. It ceased being used as a church in 1889, when its congregation moved to the structure now on Main Street. The 1805 bell was transferred to the new home. The meeting house was unused for less than a year. It was purchased for $1,000 and converted into the town's first library and antiquarian society and known as Yarmouth Memorial Hall. It was donated to the town in 1910 and used for town meetings until 1946, at which point they were moved to the Log Cabin on Main Street. During World War II, the belfry was used an airplane-spotting outlook post in the Civil Defense System. Twelve townsfolk per day manned the tower in two-hour shifts. In 1946, the Village Improvement Society (founded in 1911) agreed to maintain the interior of the meeting house. In 2001, the town and the society restored the building, from its granite foundation to the barrel-vaulted ceiling. A non-denominational church service is held here during the town's Clam Festival
The Church of the Nazarene on Route 1 became inactive in June 2012.
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March 26th, 2016
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