\nToday we shall complete the story of historic architecture in Maine.<\/p>\n
Visitors to Kennebunk are always impressed by that village’s First Parish Church, built in 1772. Originally an ordinary, rectangular meetinghouse without a tower, its noble spire was added in 1803. The square, supporting belfry has four openings. The bell, hung in 1804, was one of those cast in the foundry of Paul Revere and Sons, and was the third bell for public use in any Maine town. Only York and Portland had earlier bells.<\/p>\n
The still-standing First Parish Church of Portland, built in 1825, was the most ambitious church building of the Federal period. At that time, it was a novelty to build walls, as well as foundation, of granite. A large building, 102 by 66 feet, its walls are two feet thick. Its tall, square tower rises from the front of the main block. Inside it has a three-sided gallery and a suspended ceiling. Of course, this Portland church is not the first one for the historic First Parish. An earlier simpler structure for Portland’s famous Parson Smith stood on the same site.<\/p>\n
It is regrettable that none of the old buildings of Colby College, put up on the river bank before 1830, have been preserved. Bowdoin is more fortunate. Still standing is its Massachusetts Hall, started in 1798 and completed in 1802. Built of brick, it is 50 by 40 feet, has three stories, a five-bayed front, and a hip roof. On one side is a two-story ell. Although the interior has been several times renovated and modernized, the exterior is just as it stood in 1802.<\/p>\n
From the time when Maine became a state in 1820 until the Civil War in 1861, Maine architecture became more and more complex. By 1856, Bath was the nation’s fifth largest port in volume of maritime trade, and already the railroads were improving inland transportation. As late as 1875 more than half of all vessels launched in American yards were built in Maine.<\/p>\n
All this meant increased wealth, and it was reflected in architecture. The new capital at Augusta demanded a new state house. Increased commerce required new customhouses. With them came brick warehouses and factories, hotels, railroad stations, and covered bridges. For the first time cast iron came to be used for interior decoration.<\/p>\n
From 1835 to 1850 the prevailing style of Maine architecture was Greek Revival, but the more ornate Gothic was used by professional architects. The better carpenters were themselves quite capable of designing a house. But the large public buildings, like the State House at Augusta, had been designed by true architects like Boston’s famous Bulfinch. After 1840 most of Maine’s Episcopal churches were Gothic structures. In fact that style was used by most churches of all denominations built during the last half of the 19th century. Just before the Civil War there was a splurge of what is called Italianate Style. Its mansard roof became especially popular, because it afforded more attic space.<\/p>\n
By the end of the War, allover the state, factory-made mill work had pretty well replaced the beautiful hand-made railings and other decorative elements of a Maine home.<\/p>\n
One of Waterville’s early buildings that employed an architect was Champlin Hall, the middle one of the three brick buildings of Colby College. Built in 1830, it was designed by Thomas U. Walter, the architect of all the original buildings of Girard College in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
By 1856, Maine had ten registered architects, most of them in Portland. There was only one in Bangor, and one in Bath. Even as late as the Civil War, the combined carpenter-architect was still the most active designer of Maine homes. Among the most renowned were James Overlook of Thomaston, Thomas Lord of Blue Hill, Benjamin Deane of Bangor, Anthony Raymond of Harpswell, Charles Ryder of Belfast, Lyman Seavey of Kennebunk, and Charles Lawrence of Fairfield Center.<\/p>\n
As for public buildings, the first major one in Maine, and long the most prominent, was the State House at Augusta, designed by New England’s best known architect, Bulfinch of Boston. When we consider the cost of building today, it is astonishing to know that the State House cost only $45,000. Of course that was only the main, central part of the present building. Both north and south wings were added later. The original building was, however, large for any Maine building of its time, 146 feet long. The additional wings made the present length 360 feet. Its dome rises 185 feet into the air.<\/p>\n
In Waterville, we should be ashamed that no historic building of the 18th century has been preserved. Our oldest public building is the First Baptist Church, erected in 1826. While it has had later additions, the main building which contains the sanctuary stands on its original foundation and has exactly the same exterior dimensions as it did when it was dedicated 150 years ago.<\/p>\n
It is a cause of profound regret that means were not taken to preserve Waterville’s first meetinghouse, built in 1794 by the taxpayers to serve both public worship and town meetings. Originally on the Common and facing Common Street, it was moved back of the new City Hall, when that building was built early in this century, and was turned around to face Front Street. It was later used as an armory for the local company of the National Guard, and was finally torn down to make way for a parking lot.<\/p>\n
Other Maine communities, besides those in York County that we referred to last week, have been more fortunate than Waterville in retaining historic buildings. The Alna Meetinghouse on Route 218 to Wiscasset, was put up in 1789. The traveler will note that an otherwise straight road takes a bend around that meetinghouse. When the road was laid out, the meetinghouse was right in the middle of its straight path. Citizens adamantly refused to have the building moved, and the road had to go around it.<\/p>\n
The David Day House, on the road to Bristol out of Damariscotta, was built in 1798, the old cattle pound at Jefferson dates from 1829; the Wedding Cake House at Kennebunk went up in 1826; and the Shaker Meetinghouse at Sabbath Day Lake was there in 1794.<\/p>\n
Because of its prominence in shipping, Bath is especially rich in old buildings. Four of its churches are deemed historic sites. It has one of the finest earlier custom houses in New England, erected in 1853. Among its distinguished homes are the Patten House, 1820, and the Tallman House, 1840.<\/p>\n
I do not need to tell you about Wiscasset as a site of beautiful homes. Its fame has spread afar. It has, among others, the Dodge House, 1787; the See House, 1792; the Nickels House, 1807; and the Page House, 1837. Its old public buildings include Old Academy, 1807; the Jail, 1809; the Powder House, 1813; and the Courthouse, 1818.<\/p>\n
Some old buildings worth a visit are at the now sparsely settled hamlet of Paris Hill, one of Maine’s few completely unspoiled old communities. Besides the original Oxford County Jail, built in 1822, and the Governor Albion Parris law office of 1809, Paris Hill has the Hubbard House, 1807, the Mellow House, 1805, and the Ransom-Kimball House, 1815.<\/p>\n
One of Maine’s best known and most often visited old houses is the Longfellow House, 1785, on Portland’s Congress Street, now owned and kept open for visitors by the Maine Historical Society. One of the most unusual of old public structures is the Portland Observatory on Munjoy Hill, built in 1807. Saco has the Cutts House of 1782, Searsport, the Ward House of 1794, and Machias, the renowned Burnham Tavern of 1770. Besides Montpelier, Thomaston exhibits the Ruggles House on Main Street, built in 1827, and the much older North Parish Meetinghouse on the St. Georges Road, that dates back to 1795.<\/p>\n
Right now controversy rages about the threat of a new highway through Hallowell’s ancient business street near the bank of the Kennebec. But on the hill behind that street, Hallowell has several fine old houses, of which perhaps the best known are the Bodwell and the Hubbard houses. Not so historic, but well remembered by some of us for its famous meals, is Hallowell’s Hotel Worster.<\/p>\n
An architectural rarity worth seeing is the cast-iron fence of the White House in Belfast. Most Maine fences were of wood, a few old houses have carefully mortared stone fences in front, but very few had an iron fence.<\/p>\n
Two Brunswick houses, besides the more famous Massachusetts Hall on the Bowdoin Campus, must be mentioned, though neither is older than the Civil War. One is the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, in which was written “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. The other is the Francis Jordan House, official residence of Bowdoin presidents.<\/p>\n
The last quarter of the 19th century saw the blossoming of architecture as a recognized profession in Maine. Most famous among Maine architects of that period were Francis Fawcett and John Calvin Stevens. Many of the older styles persisted. Coburn Hall at Colby, erected in 1872, might have been built exactly the same in 1830.<\/p>\n
As Catholicism gained a foothold, its red brick, tall spired churches, with interior focused on altar rather than pulpit, became appropriate centers for the dignified celebration of the Mass. Typical are Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland, St. Johns in Bangor, and St. Francis de Sales in Waterville.<\/p>\n
We must not forget two of Maine’s buildings built in the ornate style called Queen Anners. One is the building made to represent Maine at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. It was moved after the fair to Poland Springs, where it still stands. A larger and now even better known building is Cumston Hall at Monmouth, site of one of Maine’s best summer theatres.<\/p>\n
While Maine has good buildings that went up in this century, it may still be said that the 19th century was Maine’s golden age in architecture.<\/p>\n
Year: 1975<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read the script for “Little Talks” program #1058, Broadcast on September 28, 1975<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42942,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9569"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9569\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}