The Dominican Block is an historic multifunction building at 141-145 Lincoln Street in

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is List of cities in Maine, the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, August ...

. The Queen Anne style block was built in 1882 to a design by the noted local architect

George M. Coombs George M. Coombs (November 27, 1851 – March 27, 1909) was an American architect in practice in Lewiston, Maine from 1874 to 1909. Life and career George Millard Coombs was born November 27, 1851, in Brunswick, Maine to John Matthews Coomb ...

, and was for many years one of the primary social centers for the city's burgeoning French-American community. 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 1980.

Description and history

The Dominican Block is set at the southwest corner of Lincoln and Chestnut Streets, not far from Lewiston's mill complexes. It is a -story structure built out of brick with granite trim. It has two storefronts, separated by piers of alternating brick and granite banding, with an entrance to the upper floors projecting to their left. Above each storefront windows are grouped in threes as the piers continue up to the fourth floor. The half-story at the top consists of a raised central section three bays wide, with an ornate brickwork pediment and round-arch windows in the outer bays. The building was designed by local architect

and built in 1882. It is architecturally a well-preserved local example of Queen Anne Revival executed in brick, and is stylistically similar to other buildings Coombs designed in Lewiston and elsewhere. It was built by the local

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

to house a variety of social and community services to the city's growing French Catholic population. The area it was built in was known as "Little

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

" at the time, and the building was described by a local newspaper as almost a

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

for the local French-speaking population. When opened, the Dominicans operated a school (providing both religious and secular instruction) on the premises, and it was used for worship, community meetings, and theatrical performances. The building has been in private ownership for many years, converted to more typical business and social functions.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Buildings and structures in Lewiston, Maine Commercial buildings completed in 1882 National Register of Historic Places in Lewiston, Maine

Description and history

See also

References