The Dixmont Corner Church (also known as the Dixmont Methodist Church) is a historic church on
United States Route 202 in
Dixmont, Maine
Dixmont is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,211 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Bangor Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Dixmont was originally granted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (of ...
. Built in 1834–35, it is one of the oldest churches in rural
Penobscot County
Penobscot County is a county in the U.S. state of Maine, named for the Penobscot Nation on Wabanakik. As of the 2020 census, the population was 152,199. Its county seat is Bangor. The county was established on February 15, 1816, from part of ...
, and one of its earliest examples of
Carpenter Gothic architecture. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1983.
Description and history
The Dixmont Corner Church is located in the rural village center of Dixmont, on the south side of US 202/
Maine State Route 9
State Route 9 (SR 9) is a numbered state highway in Maine, running from the New Hampshire border at Berwick in the west to the Canada–US border with New Brunswick at Calais in the east. SR 9 runs a total of .
Route description
Sta ...
, east of its junction with
Maine State Route 7
State Route 7 (SR 7) is part of Maine's system of numbered state highways, running from an interchange with U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Belfast, to an intersection with SR 15 in Dover-Foxcroft. Route 7 is long.
Between Belfast and ...
. It is a single-story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof and clapboard siding. The roof is surmounted by an integrated square belfry, which is topped by a low-pitch hip roof with pinnacles at the corners. The front (north-facing) facade is symmetrical, with a pair of entrances flanking a raised sash window. Each of these features is set under a separate paneled lancet-shaped arch, with lancet-shaped louvers above the doors and windows. This styling is repeated on the side windows, and the louvered openings of the belfry are also lancet-arched. A Federal style fanlight is at the center of the front gable. The interior of the building has an entrance vestibule (now partially subdivided to house offices and other facilities, a second-floor gallery, and a large open chamber with free-standing bench pews. The styling of the (original) woodwork on the balcony and altar rail is predominantly Federal. The walls and ceiling have been finished with Colonial Revival pressed tin.
The church was built in 1834-35 by Rowland Tyler, a local master builder whose only other documented work is the 1812 city hall of
Bangor. It is one of Penobscot County's oldest Gothic churches, following only the brick First Congregational Church in Bangor (1831) and the Orrington Methodist Church (1832). The high quality of its workmanship and its well-proportioned exterior are relative rarities in the rural interior of Maine.
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See also
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References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Churches in Penobscot County, Maine
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Churches completed in 1834
National Register of Historic Places in Penobscot County, Maine