South China Community Church - South China, Maine
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N 44° 23.751 W 069° 34.403
19T E 454335 N 4916000
Originally a Quaker meetinghouse, the main building of South China Community Church dates to 1884 with subsequent additions made in 1932, 1956, and 1976. The congregation has been multi-denominational Christian since 1935. NRHP-listed since 1983.
Waymark Code: WM1790M
Location: Maine, United States
Date Posted: 01/05/2023
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The main building of
South China Community Church dates to 1884 and was originally a Quaker meetinghouse. Additions were made to the structure throughout the 20th century. The congregation has been a multi-denominational Christian church since 1935. The property, which includes a small cemetery, at the southern tip of China Lake has served religious communities since the late 1820s. It gained National Register of Historic Places status on August 4, 1983. (Title: South China Meeting House;
National Register Information System ID:
83000459)
A cast bronze plaque mounted to a boulder near the church's southeast corner reads:
SOUTH CHINA COMMUNITY CHURCH
National Historic Site
and
Home Meeting of Rufus M. Jones
About 1827, a local family donated this site to the Baptists who
built a brick church that burned in 1869. The Baptists transferred the
site to the China Monthly Meeting of Friends in 1884 who then built
the present main building. In 1935 the Friends created the South China
Community Fellowship to embrace all faiths. Over the years additions
have been made to the original structure. The property was presented to the Fellowship by the Friends in their centennial year 1984, and it then became the South China Community Church.
"Every local church in Christendom ought to be a creative center of transforming life and love in the community."
-- Rufus M. Jones, 1863-1948
Some history from the SCCC website:
"The church’s modest site on Old Route 3 once belonged to the Baptists who worshiped, first in a brick building (built in 1827) which was sold at auction and moved in 1856, then in a wooden building erected in 1862, which burned in 1869. On October 27, 1884, the Baptists deeded the land to the Friends Society (Quakers) for $1.00, for the explicit purpose of erecting “a house of worship.”...
The spirit of growth began with [building] a one-room, one-and-a-half story pitched roof structure with its gable end to the road. The church was completed in time for a double wedding December 24, 1884.
In 1904, Jeremiah Jones’ grandson Everett added two small rooms to the south and west and added a tower; a social room was added in 1932 to include a fireplace; an annex was built in 1956 to accommodate Sunday School and church suppers; and the kitchen was expanded and a study added in 1976..."
Source: SCCC History