St. Anne's Church And Mission Site
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St. Anne's Church and Mission Site is a historic religious site on Down Street at the southern end of Indian Island in
Old Town, Maine Old Town is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 census. The city's developed area is chiefly located on the relatively large Marsh Island, though its boundaries extend beyond that. The island i ...
. The site includes a church, dating to about 1830, and a cemetery, established in 1668. The mission, with a history dating to 1668, is one of the oldest Roman Catholic establishments in
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, and the building is one of the oldest Catholic churches in the region. The site 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.


Description and history

St. Anne's Church is located on the east side of Down Street, near the southern end of Indian Island, location of the
Penobscot Indian Island Reservation Penobscot Indian Island Reservation (Abenaki: ''Álənαpe Mə́nəhan'') is an Indian reservation for the Penobscot Tribe of Maine, a federally recognized tribe of the Penobscot
. It is a single-story wood frame structure, with a front-facing gable roof and clapboard siding. The building has had a series of significant alterations, having been originally built with a small tower and belfry on its roof, with an entry in the western facade and a fanlight in the gable. Around the turn of the 20th century, this tower was replaced by the more elaborate square tower seen today projecting in front of the body of the church. The entrance is now at the base of the tower, with the fanlight just above. The tower's fourth stage has Palladian windows on each side, and its pyramidal roof is framed by pinnacles at the corners. The Catholic mission to the Penobscot Indians was established in 1688 by
Louis-Pierre Thury Louis-Pierre Thury (c. 1644, Notre Dame de Le Breuil-en-Auge, Breuil en Auge (Department of Calvados), France-June 3, 1699, City of Halifax, Halifax, Nova Scotia) was a French missionary (secular priest) who was sent to North America during the tim ...
, a French missionary baptized in
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
in 1667, with the construction of a church building and establishment of a cemetery. The mission was transferred to the
Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
in 1702, and headed by Antoine Gaulen until 1732. Until 1792 there was no permanent missionary presence, although traveling missionaries and priests would stop to minister to the Penobscots. Beginning in 1792, missionaries were stationed here in the summer, and it was during the tenure of Rev. John Cheverus (1792–98) that the second church was built on this site. The present church was built during the tenure of Rev.
Virgil Barber Virgil Horace Barber (May 9, 1782, in Claremont, New Hampshire – March 25, 1847, in Georgetown, D.C.) was an American Jesuit. Life Virgil Barber was born May 9, 1782, in Claremont, New Hampshire, where his father, Daniel Barber was an Ep ...
between 1828 and 1830, and was funded by the state. The parish received a full-time priest in 1926.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Penobscot County, Maine This is a list of properties on the National Register of Historic Places in Penobscot County, Maine. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Penobscot County, Maine, ...


References

{{National Register of Historic Places Churches in Penobscot County, Maine Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Religious buildings and structures completed in 1830 Buildings and structures in Old Town, Maine Penobscot National Register of Historic Places in Penobscot County, Maine 1668 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies