Main Street Historic District (Fryeburg, Maine)
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The Main Street Historic District of
Fryeburg, Maine Fryeburg is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,369 at the 2020 census. Fryeburg is home to Fryeburg Academy, a semi-private preparatory school, and the International Musical Arts Institute. The town is also si ...
, encompasses the growth of the town's principal village between about 1800 and 1935. It extends along Main Street (marked
United States Route 302 U.S. Route 302 (US 302) is an east–west spur of U.S. Route 2 in northern New England in the United States. It currently runs from Montpelier, Vermont, beginning at US 2, to Portland, Maine, at U.S. Route 1. It passes through the states of Ve ...
for part of its length and
Maine State Route 5 State Route 5 (abbreviated SR 5) is a state highway in Maine that runs from an intersection with State Route 9 in Old Orchard Beach, to an intersection with State Route 120 in Andover. Route description From its southern terminus near the ...
for all of it), from Woodland Street in the north to Portland Street (SR 5 and
Maine State Route 113 State Route 113 (SR 113) is a state highway in southwestern Maine (and partly in extreme eastern New Hampshire). It runs from an intersection with Maine State Route 25 in Standish north to the town of Gilead, where it ends at U.S. Ro ...
) in the south, and includes forty primary buildings on . The district was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1991.


Description and history

Fryeburg was established in 1763 by Colonel
Joseph Frye Joseph Frye (March 19, 1712 – July 25, 1794) was a military leader from colonial Massachusetts. Life Born in Andover, Massachusetts, he obtained the rank of general in the Massachusetts militia after serving in King George's War and the ...
, with settlement beginning the following year, on the former site of an
Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...
village called "Pequawket". Its present village site grew around a combination of good agricultural lands and convenient access to the few roads and trails extant at the time, and was the site of its first
meeting house A meeting house (also spelled meetinghouse or meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes private meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a: * chu ...
, where the First Congregation Church (1848–50, Greek Revival) now stands. Its importance as a civic center was further solidified with the establishment in 1792 of
Fryeburg Academy Fryeburg Academy is a private secondary school located in Fryeburg, Maine. The academy was founded in 1792, making it the oldest high school in Maine and one of the oldest private schools in the United States. Daniel Webster was one of the fir ...
, some of whose buildings are within the district. The most notable of these is the main academy building, designed by Gridley J. F. Bryant and built in 1852-53 by Ammi B. Cutter, with wings designed by
John Calvin Stevens John Calvin Stevens (October 8, 1855 – January 25, 1940) was an American architect who worked in the Shingle Style, in which he was a major innovator, and the Colonial Revival style. He designed more than 1,000 buildings in the state of Maine. ...
added in 1930. The oldest building in the district is the Squire Chase House, built c. 1767 by Nathaniel Merrill, one of Fryeburg's first proprietors, and altered during the 19th century to give it a combination of Federal and Italianate features. The most recent building is the Catholic Church, a rambling frame structure built in 1990. With the notable exceptions of the academy buildings and a bank, all of the buildings in the district are wood-frame structures, and most are residential houses. Stylistically they are somewhat diverse, reflecting Federal, Greek Revival, and Italianate styles from late 18th and 19th century more than other styles. There is one Shingle style house, the Charles Goodnow House at 137 Main Street, built in 1895, which is one of the finest of the style in the entire county. In addition to the academy, non-residential buildings in the district include the brick c. 1822 Casco Bank and Trust building at 122 Main Street and the Burnham Jewelry Store, a frame structure built in 1903-11 which is one of the town's best-preserved commercial buildings of the period. The Congregational Church was built in 1848–50, and has a vestry built in 1837. There are two dormitory buildings of the academy that are not historically significant, and there is an old wood-frame gas station, built in 1935. Two of the district's buildings are separately listed on the National Register. These include the Chase House, noted for its association with an early settler, and the
Barrows-Steadman Homestead The Barrows-Steadman Homestead is a historic house at the northeast corner of Main and Stuart Streets in Fryeburg, Maine, United States. Built c. 1809, this frame house is a good vernacular example of Federal architecture, but is most notable ...
at 134 Main Street, which has murals drawn on the walls of an upstairs chamber, attributed to itinerant artists
Rufus Porter Rufus Porter may refer to: *Rufus Porter (painter) (1792–1884), American painter, inventor, and founder of ''Scientific American'' magazine *Rufus Porter (American football), American football linebacker in the National Football League {{Hndis, ...
and Jonathan Poor.


See also

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


References

{{National Register of Historic Places Federal architecture in Maine Greek Revival architecture in Maine Italianate architecture in Maine Fryeburg, Maine Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Oxford County, Maine