National Register of Historic Places

Old Union Meetinghouse

Farmington, Franklin County, Maine
Listed
October 30, 1973
Type
Building
Period
Civil War
Ref No.
73000106

About this property

The Old Union Meetinghouse, now the Union Baptist Church, is a historic church at 107 Mason Road in the Farmington Falls area of Farmington, Maine. Built in 1826–27, it is a high-quality and well-preserved example of a traditional late-colonial meetinghouse with Federal-style details. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In March 1833, a committee of the committee of the Frankfort Union Meeting House Corporation contracted Calvin Ryder, a twenty-three year old local builder, to construct the church according to plans prepared by Bangor architect Charles H. Pond for the Orrington Methodist Church. The building is set facing southwest. It is on the southeast side of a short stretch of Mason Road, which runs NE-SW between United States Route 2 and Maine State Route 41. It is a basically rectangular wood frame structure with a front-gable roof, clapboard siding, and a granite foundation. A vestibule, projecting from the front façade, provides a partial base for the square church tower, whose main stage rises partially through the main roof to an open octagonal belfry area supported by round columns. A series of octagonal sections, decreasing in size, are capped by the steeple and weather vane. The projecting vestibule has two doorways, each framed by delicate pilasters, and topped by a fanlight, with a set of windows at the gallery level, topped by a small pedimented gable. The main sides of the façade are unadorned except for windows at the gallery level. The sides of the building have eight sash windows, each with shutters and a fanlight above. Design and construction of the church, which was completed in 1827, are attributed to Benjamin Butler, a builder who moved to Farmington from Massachusetts in 1790. Butler is also credited with building the first bridge across the Sandy River, and he was a member of the town's building committee. Unlike many churches built in the 1820s, its form is more reminiscent of church designs of the mid-18th century. although its exterior styling is in the then-popular Federal style. The only substantive work on the church took place in 1854, when its pews were rebuilt, and its walls repainted and papered. Although the church was originally built to serve multiple denominations, it is now owned and maintained by a Baptist congregation. National Register of Historic Places listings in Franklin County, Maine

Location

Farmington, Franklin County, Maine
44.62387, -70.07738

Categories

ARCHITECTURERELIGION
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Tufts House
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New Sharon Bridge
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New Sharon Congregational Church
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3.3 mi
Little Red Schoolhouse
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3.8 mi
Greenwood, Chester and Isabel, House (Additional Documentation)
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4.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was Old Union Meetinghouse listed on the National Register?

Old Union Meetinghouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 30, 1973.

What type of historic resource is Old Union Meetinghouse?

Old Union Meetinghouse is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Old Union Meetinghouse?

The period of significance for Old Union Meetinghouse is recorded as the civil_war era.

Can I research the history near Old Union Meetinghouse?

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