Mariner's Church - Portland, ME
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 43° 39.392 W 070° 15.174
19T E 398971 N 4834488
Last actual services were in 1968. Mariners' Church, Fore and Moulton Streets, Location of Daniels Colesworthy's basement anti-slavery bookstore and print shop.
Waymark Code: WMWJ44
Location: Maine, United States
Date Posted: 09/10/2017
Views: 2
County of Site: Cumberland County
Location of Site: Fore St. & Moulton St., Mariners' Church, Portland
Built: 1828
"Mariner's Church (also known as the Old Port Tavern and Mariner’s Church Banquet Center) is a historic church and commercial building at 368-374 Fore Street in Portland, Maine. Built in 1828, the Greek Revival building historically served as both a church and marketplace. It was for many years the city's largest commercial building, and survived the city's great 1866 fire. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It is now home to the Old Port Tavern and other commercial businesses.
"The former Mariner's Church occupies much a city block in Portland's Old Port area. It occupies a trapezoidal lot bounded on the north by Fore Street, the east by Market Street, and the west by Moulton Street, with its main facade facing toward Fore Street. It is a three story masonry structure, built of granite and brick, with a broad gabled roof. The main facade has six storefronts on the ground floor, each with a recessed entrance flanked on one side by a large fixed-pane display window. The second floor has a bank of twelve round-arch windows, with rectangular windows on the third level. The gable above is fully pedimented, with a fanlight window near the center of its base. The building's corners are rounded, the left one in brick and the right one in stone. The main facade is predominantly stone, with the street-facing side walls mainly brick.
"The building was constructed in 1828 and was used for "moral and religious" instruction of local mariners, with the building's upkeep supported by the commercial businesses on its ground floor. The building was damaged in the city's 1866 fire. In 1969 the building was purchased by C.H. Robinson who saved it from demolition. In 1973 the building opened as a restaurant known as the Old Port Tavern, and the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places that same year. Today the building is used for events as the Mariner’s Church Banquet Center and also contains a billiards hall." ~ Wikipedia
"On the third floor is what
ginally the room of worship, or chapel -- a large (40' x 65'
cathedral ceiling and smaller rooms on either side.
"The Old Mariner's Church is modeled after Fanuel Hall in Boston and
East India Hall, Salem, Massachusetts; and was the fi/s't Greek Revival
building in Portland. It also for many years was Portland's largest
building, built inJ828-29 at a cost of $18,000 for the site and $33,000
for the construction. Its concept was that of a place of worship and
education for seamen of the port city.
"The church was one of the few commercial buildings in the city to
survive the fire of 1866 which destroyed much of Portland. The church
has been significant historical, religious, political and social activity
as many of the seamen's and ship associations, unions and clubs were organized and met there.....The structure remains physically unchanged and is actively functioning in a
way not unlike the concept of its original purpose and design." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
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