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The Building's History
Pre-Civil War Beginnings
The classic New England church building known today as the First Universalist Church of Yarmouth was built at the head of Portland Street in 1860 to serve as the meeting house of the newly-formed Central Parish Congregational Church. The 34 Yarmouth residents who were its parishioners had broken off from Yarmouth’s First Parish Congregational Church, apparently for reasons reflecting America’s deep political divisions just before the Civil War.
Architecture
The Italianate-style frame building was one of three similar churches in Maine designed by Thomas Holt of Bethel in the mid 1800s. (A fourth Holt church, in North Waterford, is still standing but is in a different style.) Of Holt’s three Italianate churches, one, in Paris Hill, no longer exists; and a second, in Skowhegan, was covered with vinyl siding in 1977. Only the Yarmouth church, with its signature New England white spire, remains as an important, little altered example of Thomas Holt’s work.
Steeple and Bell
The steeple houses a custom-made bell that was gifted to the church by a friend in England who had it founded in London and shipped to Yarmouth when the church was built.
The bell is embossed with the words “G. Mears Foundery London / Charles Gumm, London, to His Friends, Yarmouth.” Its warm, spiritual tone has, until recently, rung from the belfry throughout the village every Sunday morning and on days of special celebration. When the belfry was boarded up in June to stabilize it in preparation for the spire removal and hurricane season, the bell was silenced and will not ring again until the belfry is restored.
In 1988, the Central Parish Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the State of Maine for its architectural uniqueness and its place in the historical development of Yarmouth.
Worship services have been conducted at the church for nearly 150 years, through many changes. The Central Parish congregation, originally an “orthodox congregational church,” dwindled in the late 1870s as the shipbuilding industry of Yarmouth declined. In 1886 the remaining members affiliated themselves with the American Unitarian Association, and over the next three decades Central Parish also absorbed members from the Universalist Society of Yarmouth (formed in 1834). The congregation renamed itself the First Universalist Society in 1921, and in 1947 adopted its present name.
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The Building's Value to the Community
Today, First Universalist is a vigorous Unitarian Universalist congregation actively engaged in community affairs. The church’s mission statement commits it to being “an inclusive, caring, and spiritual community…unite(d) to create and sustain a world of increased love and justice.”
In addition to Sunday worship services, the First Universalist building regularly serves as both a site for social activities and a gathering place for diverse celebrations.
There are Sunday morning religious exploration classes for children and youth, a high school youth group, and adult classes throughout the week covering a variety of topics from science to philosophy to environmental stewardship. The church also hosts many community activities: concerts and plays, meditation sanghas, T’ai Chi and yoga classes, food pantry collection, meal preparation for a Portland halfway house, women’s AA meetings, community men’s groups, monthly public bean suppers and one of the most active drumming circles in New England. Cheesecake, crab cakes, and scallop rolls from First Universalist’s kitchen are traditional offerings at the town’s annual Clam Festival in July, and shoppers flock to the church Holiday Fair in December to peruse the wide assortment of handmade crafts and sample an outstanding menu of hot soups.
For local residents, Yarmouth without the tall white First Universalist steeple would hardly seem like the village they take pride in and cherish.
