HISTORY

Building History

The Indian River Baptist church was constructed in 1853 in a late Greek Revival design. It’s most significant architectural features are seven windows that are 30 lights over 30 lights, a detail unique to any other church or private structures in Washington County, Maine. Sometime around 1910-15, A bell tower and bell was salvaged from a nearby church that had been demolished and was added to this building. The building still has all the original pews and an intact hand-sculpted plaster decorative ceiling rosette. It seats approximately 140 people.

It was used as a Baptist Church until 1880, and was then used as an interdenominational “Union” church until the 1940’s, when it ceased to have an active congregation, but was used and maintained by local residents for community events, weddings, memorial services, Sunday bible classes, and the like.

In the summer of 1986, the building, which was still owned by the national Baptist organization, put the building up for sale. At a community meeting that summer, held at the adjacent local Grange Hall, and attended by more than 100 people, the community agreed to create a non-profit Maine corporation called  The Indian River Community Association. The corporation then acquired the building. Subsequently, with the help and advice of Earle Shettleworth, then the State Historian, the building was placed on the Maine, and the National Registry of Historic Buildings.

Indian River, which is one of the outlying villages of the town of Addison, was founded in 1760 and had an active grist mill and ship building yard. In 1866, a group of 178 religious pilgrims from the village, under the leadership of a charismatic preacher, agreed to commission a ship, the Nellie Chapin,  and create a religious colony in Joppa, then part of the Ottoman Empire, now part of the modern Israeli city of Tel Aviv. The founding of that colony became national news in the United States, and was further documented by author Mark Twain in his book Innocents Abroad. The colonists brought pre-assembled materials for their homes and farming needs on the ship. Three of the original Maine buildings still exist, having been restored in 1992, partly from funds raised during a three-day celebration of the sailing of the Nellie Chapin, at ceremonies held at the former Indian River Baptist Church, The Indian River Grange Hall, and the U.S, Coast Guard Station in nearby Jonesport, which in 1866 was the public wharf from which the Nellie Chapin sailed. During the celebrations, an Israeli documentary film crew created a narrative film, titled “To Brave A Dream’

In the intervening years, the building has been home to a regular series of summer events that have ranged from lectures, classical music recitals, country and western songfests by local residents, choral ensembles, performances by local Maine Sea Chanty historians, as well as memorial services honoring local community members. Many of these events played to full houses.

For almost all of it’s history, repairs and maintenance have been performed pro bono by community members. In 2022, led by new leadership as former leaders passed away, the corporation began the application process for a federal tax exempt status to assist in its preservation and restoration efforts, In November, 2023, the non-profit corporation was granted Federal tax exempt status.