Name/Title
Unitarian Parsonage (Burned Down) | 16 Shackford Street, Eastport, MaineDescription
-SHACKFORD016
I7-0D3-11A
Address:
16 Shackford Street
Eastport, Maine
Parsonage building and attached meeting house addition both burned to the ground on the night of October 26, 2020.
From Eastport Walking Tour Brochure, 2010:
The Unitarian Parsonage 16 Shackford Street. Although the "big meeting house," the Unitarian Church, was lost in a fire on December 29, 1946, the parsonage still remains. In 1854 and 1855 the Unitarian Church underwent a major rebuilding. Several years later, about 1857, a convenient two-story parsonage was built on the adjacent lot. This lot had once been a favorite for playing ball (in the 1850s) and once felt the tread of parading Eastport Light Infantry militia members.
From Eastport and Passamaquoddy (1888):
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL (UNITARIAN) CHURCH. In a preceding chapter, Mr. Sabine has given an account of the building of the first Congregational meeting-house. When completed and in accordance with the original agreement, a vote was taken to ascertain the preferences of the proprietors ; and, though a minority wished to have a minister from the Andover Theological Seminary, by a decided majority it was voted to send to Cambridge, and President Kirkland engaged Andrew Bigelow, a graduate of the class of 1814, at the time em- ployed in the government of the college, who had not yet been ordained. He was son of Honorable Timothy Bigelow, then speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Arriving at Eastport in mid- winter, he preached the sermon at the dedication of the new church, Jan. 13, 1820, Elder Samuel Rand assisting in the other services. Returning to Boston a few weeks later, he was ordained at the university chapel, President Kirkland preaching the sermon, and remained at Eastport a year longer. In those days, "the big meeting-house" as it was frequently called, was used quite regularly for Fourth of July celebrations and other public occasions, its floor and deep side galleries giving accommodation for large crowds. A bell paid for by the town with some private contributions was hung in its steeple. During the pastorate of Rev. Edward H. Edes in 1831, the first church organ used in public worship in Eastern Maine was introduced here. The evening and social meetings of the society were held at private houses, at the Masonic Hall on Middle Street, or in one of the school-houses under Trescott Hall, until the rebuilding of the church during the pastorate of Rev. Henry F. Edes in 1854 and 1855. While this was being done, by the hospitality of the Washing- ton Street Baptist Society, the regular Sunday services were continued in their vestry on Green Street. The expense of the changes in the meeting-house was about the same as the original cost of the building. The high pulpit and side galleries were removed, the floor raised, and space gained for vestry and other rooms beneath. Sev- eral years later, a convenient parsonage was built on the adjacent lot, once the parade ground of the Light Infantry and a favorite place for games of ball. A recent bequest of the late Partmon Houghton, for many years a member of the Standing Committee and superin- tendent of the Sunday-school, gives the parish the sum of $2,000, the income to be devoted to keeping in repair and ornamenting the house and grounds.
Organization i7i 1888. Pastor, Rev. H. D. Catlin. Standing Committee, George F. Wadsworth, Edward E. Shead, Noel B. Nutt, Mrs. William S. Hume, Miss Anna A. Noyes. Clerk, George F. Wadsworth. Treasurer, Henry Whelpley. Sunday-school superintendent. Rev. H. D. Catlin.
