FIRST - Black Congregation in Maine - Portland, Maine
Posted by: neoc1
N 43° 39.732 W 070° 14.905
19T E 399342 N 4835112
A Portland Freedom Trail Historical Marker identifies the Abyssinian Baptist Church as the home of the first Black congregation in Maine. The church and marker are located at 73 Newbury Street in Portland, ME.
Waymark Code: WM170CY
Location: Maine, United States
Date Posted: 11/13/2022
Views: 0
Bronzes plaques embedded in a concrete base and set in the sidewalk mark this location on the Portland Freedom Trail. The trail is: "Dedicated to the countless thousands of men and women who fled the bonds of slavery but were recaptured or died at the hands of their pursuers before they reached the safe embrace of the Underground Railroad."
The monument contains a bronze relief image of a conductor leading runaway slaves via the underground railroad at night. It is inscribed:
PORTLAND FREEDOM TRAIL
MAINE FREEDOM TRAILS ESTABLISHED 2007
Below is a bronze plaque which has an image of the Abyssinian Baptist Church and the inscription:
THE ABYSSINIAN CHURCH
73 NEWBURY STREET WAS THE MAJOR
HUB OF THE UNDERGROUND
RAILROAD IN MAINE AND BECAME
THE SOCIAL CENTER FOR PORTLAND'S
AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY
___________________________________
BUILT IN 1828, THE CHURCH IS THE THIRD OLDEST AFRICAN
AMERICAN CHURCH STILL STANDING IN THE U.S. AND
THE FIRST BLACK CONGREGATION IN MAINE, IT BECAME
THE FOURTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN PORTLAND.
REUBEN RUBY PURCHASED THE LAND FOR THE CHURCH
AND HIS SON, FIREFIGHER WILLIAM WILBERFORCE RUBY,
SAVED THE BUILDING IN THE FIRE Of 1866 BY WETTING
IT DOWN.
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