Biddeford Historical Society receives funds for Meetinghouse restoration

BIDDEFORD — An exterior renovation on Biddeford’s oldest public building will soon be complete, thanks to assistance from the Maine Community Foundation and a few local businesses.

The First Parish Meetinghouse, located at the corner of Old Pool Road and Meetinghouse Road, was built in 1759.

“This was the center of town,” said Biddeford Historical Member Dana Peck. The meetinghouse served as a combined church and town hall until about 1840, when the local economy shifted from seafaring to mill industries, and city hall moved to what is now Biddeford’s downtown.

In the years the building was used as a church, it changed hands a few times and was used by The Church of England, the Congregationalists and the Presbyterians, said Peck.

Notable moments in early Biddeford history took place at the Meetinghouse, including the public reading of the Declaration of Independence to the townspeople on the imminent separation from Britain, said Biddeford Historical Society Director Catherine Glynn.

The building was acquired by the Biddeford Historical Society in 1970 with the goal to preserve it for future generations, and it’s a building the community is proud of, said Glynn.

“We are fortunate to have this building that is tied to the history of the early Republic,” she said.

The meetinghouse, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is still in used today. Inside a Victorian era Eastlake style organ in working order sits in front of the rows of pews. Though the building does have plumbing and electricity, it is not winterized, and is open seasonally. Prior to the pandemic, the meetinghouse was a venue for lectures, plays and performances. Glynn said it has been booked for a wedding later this year.

The building went under a remodel in the 1840s when a belfry was removed, and an ongoing effort is in place to preserve the building to that era. The pews have doors with numbers, and were once purchased by donors as a fundraising effort to restore the building when it was in use as a church. Church records list the names of the donors, and by cross-referencing names to old city documents, Peck is researching the families who made the donations.

A current project is under way to renovate the meetinghouse’s exterior, with new windows and a fresh coat of paint to seal the outer surface from the elements. This is being done with the help from a $7,075 grant from the Belvedere Historical Preservation Fund of the Maine Community Foundation, an organization that works with donors and partners to improve the quality of life for all Maine people. Saco & Biddeford Savings Charitable Foundation and Paquin & Carroll Insurance teamed up with Maine Community Foundation to donate $1,000 to the project, as well.

For more information on the Biddeford Historical Society, check out the group’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/biddefordhistoricalsociety.

 Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.