The Second Congregational Church of Newcastle is a historic church on River Street in
Newcastle, Maine
Newcastle is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,848 at the 2020 census. The village of Newcastle is located in the eastern part of the town, on the Damariscotta River. Together with the village of Damariscot ...
. Built in 1848, it is one of
Mid Coast
MidCoast Council is a local government area located in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 through a merger of the Gloucester Shire, Great Lakes and City of Greater Taree Councils.
T ...
Maine's finest examples of brick
Gothic Revival architecture
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
. It 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 1979.
The congregation, established in 1843, is affiliated with the
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...
.
Description and history
The Second Congregational Church of Newcastle stands in the town center, just south of the junction of
United States Route 1
U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, ma ...
Business and
Maine State Route 215. It is a single-story brick building with wooden trim and a gable roof. Projecting from the center of the main facade is a tower, which houses the main entrance at the base. The tower and building corners are articulated by pilasters; the tower has Gothic arched windows on the front, and rises to a wooden crenellation that surrounds an open wood-frame belfry. The belfry also has corner pilasters, and its openings are also arched in the Gothic style. The belfry is topped by corner pinnacles joined by a decorative swag-like rail.
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The first congregation to be established in what is now Newcastle was founded in the village of Sheepscot in 1797. The second congregation was organized in 1843 to meet the needs of the growing
Damariscotta community (just across the
Damariscotta River
The Damariscotta River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 tidal river in Lincoln County, Maine, that empties into the Atlantic Ocean. ''Damariscotta'' i ...
), and the present church was built for it in 1849. The church is a highly visible landmark, especially for travelers arriving by boat on the river.
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See also
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References
External links
Second Congregational Church of Newcastle web siteSecond Congregational Church of Newcastle Facebook page
{{National Register of Historic Places
Churches in Lincoln County, Maine
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Gothic Revival church buildings in Maine
Churches completed in 1848
National Register of Historic Places in Lincoln County, Maine
19th-century churches in the United States
Congregational churches in Maine
Buildings and structures in Newcastle, Maine