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First Parish Church is an historic church at 425 Congress Street in
The First Parish Church stands on the north side of Congress Street, opposite its intersection with Temple Street, in the civic heart of Portland, with Portland City Hall a short way to the east, the public library a short way west, and Portland High School immediately to its north. The church is a tall single-story structure, built out of granite from Freeport. The granite is ashlar, except for finely dressed corner quoining. The building is basically rectangular, with a projecting three-bay entrance vestibule, from which a square tower projects slightly further. The three entrances are set in round-arch openings with a fanlight above. The multistage tower has an arched louver above a marble date panel at the second stage, and a clock at the third stage, which is differentiated from the second by rounded corners. The belfry is octagonal, with round-arch louvered openings, and is topped by a smaller octagonal cupola and a short spire.
The church congregation was founded in 1674, when Portland was known as Falmouth, and its early history was interrupted by Native American attacks. Its period of continuous history begins in 1718, when it began meeting in a log church, which was replaced in 1721 and again in 1740 by frame structures. The latter was where a convention was held to draft the soon-to-be state's first constitution in 1819 (statehood being awarded the following year). This church was built on the site of the 1740 church, and was the first major granite structure east of
First Parish Church web site
Portland's oldest place of worship opens a new, woman-led chapter
The Forecaster, November 30, 2010 {{National Register of Historic Places Churches in Portland, Maine Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Federal architecture in Maine Churches completed in 1825 19th-century churches in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Maine 1825 establishments in Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
. Built in 1825 for a congregation established in 1674, it is the oldest church building in the city, and one of its finest examples of Federal period 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 1973. The congregation is Unitarian Universalist
Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to:
Christian and Christian-derived theologies
A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism:
* Unitarianism (1565–present) ...
; its pastor is Reverend Norman Allen.
Description and history
The First Parish Church stands on the north side of Congress Street, opposite its intersection with Temple Street, in the civic heart of Portland, with Portland City Hall a short way to the east, the public library a short way west, and Portland High School immediately to its north. The church is a tall single-story structure, built out of granite from Freeport. The granite is ashlar, except for finely dressed corner quoining. The building is basically rectangular, with a projecting three-bay entrance vestibule, from which a square tower projects slightly further. The three entrances are set in round-arch openings with a fanlight above. The multistage tower has an arched louver above a marble date panel at the second stage, and a clock at the third stage, which is differentiated from the second by rounded corners. The belfry is octagonal, with round-arch louvered openings, and is topped by a smaller octagonal cupola and a short spire.
The church congregation was founded in 1674, when Portland was known as Falmouth, and its early history was interrupted by Native American attacks. Its period of continuous history begins in 1718, when it began meeting in a log church, which was replaced in 1721 and again in 1740 by frame structures. The latter was where a convention was held to draft the soon-to-be state's first constitution in 1819 (statehood being awarded the following year). This church was built on the site of the 1740 church, and was the first major granite structure east of Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...
. The building was the only one in the surrounding area to survive Portland's great fire of 1866.
Hermann Kotzschmar
Johann Carl Hermann Kotzschmar (July 4, 1829April 15, 1908) was a German-American musician, conductor, and composer.
Kotzschmar was born in 1829 in Finsterwalde, Germany. His father, Johann Gottfried Kotzschmar, was the town ''Stadtmusiker'' and t ...
(1829–1908) was the church organist for 47 years.
See also
*National Register of Historic Places listings in Portland, Maine
__NOTOC__
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Portland, Maine.
This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Cumberland County, ...
* Thomas Smith (parson), the church's leader from 1727-1795
References
External links
*First Parish Church web site
Portland's oldest place of worship opens a new, woman-led chapter
The Forecaster, November 30, 2010 {{National Register of Historic Places Churches in Portland, Maine Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Federal architecture in Maine Churches completed in 1825 19th-century churches in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Maine 1825 establishments in Maine