Whenever I see a stone church, it makes me wonder if there may have been fire in its history. Indeed, such was the case with St. John the Baptist, when they lost their church to fire on April 12, 1912. Wisely replacing it with an elegant stone edifice, they began construction that same year, but the church was not dedicated until February 27, 1927.
A beautiful an interesting Gothic Revival church, it was built of cut, rusticated stone, likely granite, with what appears to be freestone for trim. There are three large rose windows on the building, on over the entrance and one in each of the large transepts. The main entrance is framed in a large, Gothic arch of stone, the double wood doors supported by heavy medieval looking iron hinges. Above, the transom holds a stone relief carving of several religious figures including six angels. Carved into the frame of the arch are eight more, smaller angels, while further above are trefoils with flowers in the apexes, above which is a moulding with more flowers spaced along its length.
In their very early history, the Catholics of Brunswick were served by priests from Augusta and Whitfield. In 1855 Brunswick became a mission of Bath and in that period Father Peter McLaughlin came to say Mass once a month in the home of John Dolan on Elm Street. Religious services were later held in a hall at the Varney mill. A former Protestant church was bought in 1866 and Mass was said there until 1883.
...the old Protestant church was dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. Saint John the Baptist parish was born on January 1, 1877.
Father Noiseux was succeeded by Rev. James Gorman who served Saint John’s for twelve years and brought a new church to Brunswick. The new church was solemnly blessed by Bishop James Healy of Portland on the feast of Saint John the Baptist, July 24, 1886... Father Remy arrived on the 14th of August in 1911. Less than a year later, on April 12, 1912, Saint John’s church was destroyed by fire.
People and priests showed their mettle by building bigger and better on the ashes of the old. The solemn blessing of the new church on February 27, 1927 in the pastorship of Father Etienne Vinas, S. M. represented the crowning point of fifty years of history for Saint John the Baptist parish.
From the All Saints Parish