Built 1826 (1826) Opened 1826 Added to NRHP 7 November 1976 | NRHP Reference # 76000095 Area 8,000 m² Architect Francis H. Fassett | |
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Location 1 Park St., Waterville, Maine Architectural styles Victorian architecture, Neoclassical architecture Similar Universalist‑Unitarian Church, Bay of Fundy, Colby College Museum, Baxter Building, Williston‑West Church and Paris | ||
The First Baptist Church is a historic church at 1 Park Street (corner of Elm) in Waterville, Maine. Built in 1826, it is the city's oldest standing public building. It was renovated in 1875 to a design by Francis H. Fassett. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Description and history
The First Baptist Church is located in the center of Waterville, at the northwest corner of Park and Elm Streets. It is a two story wood frame structure, with a gabled roof, clapboard siding, and a granite foundation. It is basically rectangular in plan, with a projecing entry vestibule, and a vestry addition to the rear. The building's facade is ornately decorated, with paneled corner pilasters rising to bracketed eaves. Windows are narrow sash, separated between floors by panels, with moulded hoods above the second-floor windows. A tower rises above the main roof, with a square stage rising to an octagonal louvered belfry and then a steeple with flared base.
The Baptist congregation in Waterville was established in 1818 by Rev. Jeramiah Chaplin, and at first met in the town's meeting house. In 1824 the congregation began fundraising to build its own church, which resulted in construction of the present building two years later. In 1875 the building was renovated in the latest Victorian styles to a design by Portland-based Francis H. Fassett, then one of the state's leading architects.