Actually organized in 1859 as a Congregationalist church, it was formed by a breakaway group from the First Universalist Church. Dedicated June
5th, 1860, it became known as the First Universalist Church in 1920 and merged with the Unitarians in 1962.
A rather well designed Italianate building, Central Parish Church, today known as
First Universalist Church, was the design of Thomas Holt, a native of Bethel, Maine. Standing on a tall brick basement, the facade and tower are quite impressive, exhibiting a great deal of embellishment. Partially set into the front gable end, the square tower has paneled corner pilasters which extend through a curved cornice to a simpler cornice at the bottom of the eight sided belfry which is open on four of the eight sides, above which is an eight sided spire.
The bottom of the tower begins with double doors with a semicircular fanlight transom, surmounted by a pair of rounded arched windows with an italianate keystoned hood moulding. All the windows above the basement were given the same treatment. Above these windows is the curved cornice, with returns, and having shallow brackets with a line of dentils below. All the cornices on the building are identically treated.
Yarmouth's Central Parish Church is a handsome Italianate style frame
building erected in 1859-60. Designed by Thomas Holt, the edifice is one of four known church commissions in Maine by the architect and one of the two most intact. Its nomination to the National Register is made under criterion C and criteria consideration A as a religious property whose significance derives from its architectural merit.
The Central Parish Church was organized in 1859 as a Congregational
society by disaffected members of the First Universalist Church. On June 5th of the following year they dedicated their new building. According to local historians the Church flourished until the late 1870s or early 1880s, but a subsequent decline was followed in 1885 by a wholesale loss of members to the mother Church. As a result of this action the two congregations agreed to consolidate choosing to utilize the building and name of the Central Parish Church. In 1920 the congregation became known as the First Universalist Church and in 1962 they merged with the Unitarians, but retained the Universalist name.
Thomas Holt (1835-1889) was born in Bethel, Maine, and educated at the local Gould Academy. The son of a carpenter, Holt appears to have first established a firm with contractors Moses C. Foster and Cyrus Buck. By 1857, however, he had entered into private practice and two years later was offering his architectural services through the Bethel Courier. In addition to his skills as an architect, Holt had also acquired sufficient engineering expertise that enabled him to design both wooden bridges as well as steel truss bridges for the Maine Central Railroad. In fact the latter part of his career was largely spent as an engineer for the Maine Central.
From the NRHP Nomination Form