National Register of Historic Places

Rumford Point Congregational Church

Rumford, Oxford County, Maine
Listed
June 19, 1985
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
85001259

About this property

The Rumford Point Congregational Church is an historic church at the State Route 5 and U.S. Route 2 junction in Rumford, Maine. Built in 1865, the Greek Revival church building is notable as one of a very small number of 19th-century churches in Maine with original Trompe-l'œil artwork on its walls and ceilings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The church is located in the historic village of Rumford Point, close to a bridge crossing the Androscoggin River. It is a single-story wood frame structure, with a relatively simple two-stage tower topped by a steeple and weathervane. The main facade is three bays wide, with the entrance at the center, framed by pilasters and a fully pedimented gable, set above decorative panels. The flanking bays, like those on the side walls, have tall sash windows. The first stage of the tower is square, finished in clapboards, while the second stage, which houses the belfry, is flushboarded, and has round-arched louvered openings. The church was built in 1865. The church's most striking feature is the series of frescoed paintings on its walls and ceilings. Apparently painted by the itinerant artist Jonathan Adams Bartlett, they are among the youngest and rarest such work known in the state from the 19th century. The paintings are a Trompe-l'œil depiction of a domed ceiling, with the walls painted to give the illusion of a much larger choir/apse space. The ceiling art has experienced some water damage. National Register of Historic Places listings in Oxford County, Maine

Location

Rumford, Oxford County, Maine
44.50086, -70.67121

Categories

ART
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

Deacon Hutchins House
Industrial
3.4 mi
Lower Meeting House and East Bethel Cemetery
Industrial
3.5 mi
Middle Intervale Meeting House and Common
Listed
6.2 mi
Rumford Public Library
Industrial
6.8 mi
Strathglass Park District
Listed
6.9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Rumford Point Congregational Church listed on the National Register?

Rumford Point Congregational Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 19, 1985.

What type of historic resource is Rumford Point Congregational Church?

Rumford Point Congregational Church is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Rumford Point Congregational Church?

The period of significance for Rumford Point Congregational Church is recorded as the industrial era.

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