Churches | Belgrade Historical Society

Old South Church

Krack Media — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 07:12:23 +0000

Old South Church

In his History of Baptists in Maine, Joshua Millet wrote in 1845 that, on April 29, 1806, twelve members did “gather a church in Belgrade”. Elder I. Case was the first preacher, followed by Asa Wilbur, Gould, Joseph Palmer, Moses Low, Kendal and Benjamin Bishbee. By 1810, Elias Taylor was ordained as pastor, and in 1826 land was purchased “in consideration’ of ten dollars from Shadrack Rollins and Moses Page. Later in 1826 this Calvinist Baptist society began to build the meeting house still standing at Rockwood’s corner of the Winthrop road and the West Road. It was dedicated on July 18th, 1828.

Following a time of discord, Pastor Taylor resigned in 1833, and by 1839 attendance had “so far declined and become so disunited as to be not in a state worthy of the ante of a real church.” The few members then formed as a society and applied to the Kennebec Association of Baptists for assistance. Rev. Daniel McMaster was minister for the next three years, followed by Rev. Lucius Packard, Deacon A.W. Cummings and Benjamin Jackson. Later history of this church can be read in the 1978 booklet published by the Ladies Aid Society of Old South Church. An old record book tells of a South Belgrade Freewill Baptist Church that organized September, 1848, and voted that conferences be held at the Baptist Meeting House at Rockwood’s Corner.

By the next year, this church voted those conferences be held half the time at Rollins school house, at the corner of Wings Mills road. Later the Axtell school house (District 4) on the Knowles Road, was the place of meeting. Asa Axtell was a member here, and was a member earlier of the Calvinist Baptist Society, builders of Old South Church. Records cease in 1858 with the notation “few in attendance.” According to early records, sometime before 1802 a freewill Baptist church met in the Dearborn area (part of which is now North Belgrade) and “on the back side of Great Pond.” This group continued for more than ten years, meeting in homes of Cornelius Tilton and Benjamin Frost, in Asa Libby’s barn, and in “the schoolhouse near Capt. Jones’ house,” District 9 at the junction of the West Road and the Gowell Road. Elias Taylor was the pastor in 1814. Preceding this, a small Society of Friends (Quakers) had formed here as early as 1801, led by Calvin Stewart, Samuel Stewart and Eleazer Burbank, who was later dropped for receiving a military pension. Samuel Taylor was their first minister. By 1939 a small meeting house was built at the southwest corner of the present Friends’ burying ground at the junction of the Oakland road and the Winthrop Road. Fourteen years later, ox teams hauled this meetinghouse to a “site near Frank Pray’s house” and the group met there several more years. Finally, the meeting house was sold to Joseph Taylor for use as a barn and it burned in 1880. An 1856 map of Belgrade locates a church building on the west side of the Oakland road, halfway between the Friends’ cemetery and the road junction at the top of Belgrade hill. This could have been later the site of this Friends’ Meeting House.

Further north, at the top of Belgrade hill and on the east side of the road, a Unitarian and Freewill Baptist church was built in 1827. John Pitts and Samuel Titcomb contributed much toward its cost of $1300. Titcomb Academy was built just east of the meetinghouse two years later and burned in 1885. William Farmer and Samuel Hutchins were two of the early preachers in this unheated meetinghouse. Attendance lessened, and by 1885, by a special act of the state legislature, the building was torn down. Benjamin Gleason bought the timbers for his barn in Oakland.

The Union Church

Krack Media — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 06:56:13 +0000

The Union Church

In 1870, a church was built at Belgrade Mills (now Belgrade Lakes) under the sponsorship of Methodists and Adventists. A large part of the cost was borne by David Golder, the affluent owner of the spool factory. This Union Church was open all year until 1954 when Irene Tillson ceased her ten years of preaching there. Very early ministers, Pastors Smart, Chamberlain, Powers and others, would come Saturday by stage and stay with Mr. and Mrs. Tillson. John Rix preceded Mrs. Tillson, who also preached at Chelsea Sunday afternoons. Miss Lena Kerr of Oakland worked faithfully for the church many years, playing the organ and obtaining the speakers for the Sunday services during the summer months. The building, on the Main Street, is owned by the Methodist Conference of Maine, and the upkeep is the responsibility of the congregation, now largely summer residents and visitors.

St. Helena’s

Krack Media — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 06:45:56 +0000

St. Helena’s

St. Helena’s Roman Catholic Church at Belgrade Lakes is a mission of St. Theresa’s Parish of Oakland. The mission originated from meetings during the summers of 1907–1910 at the Great Pond cottage of Mr. and Mrs. J. L. McCormack. From 1910 until 1913, Catholic masses were held in the card room at The Belgrade, through arrangements made by the hotel owner, Charles Hill, and Reverend Father Kealy.

In 1913, Mr. McCormack acted as agent for Father Kealy and purchased the land where the church now stands, and the building soon became a reality. The first wedding at the church was that of McCormack’s son, Frank, in 1926, followed two years later by the wedding of their daughter, Catherine. In August 1928, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Alter of New York were married, marking the last wedding to be celebrated at St. Helena’s for more than three decades.

In 1959, Elizabeth Clement, daughter of Donald Clement, became the first bride to be married at St. Helena’s in 31 years. Fittingly, her godparents were Mr. and Mrs. Alter, the couple who had been the last to wed at the chapel in 1928.

For many years, John Casale of Rome Farms generously funded the maintenance and upkeep of the church and its grounds, ensuring the chapel remained a welcoming place for parishioners and visitors.

Over the years, land to the east of the chapel has been cleared for a parking area, and interior improvements have been made to the flooring and pews.

Faith Community Church

Krack Media — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 06:41:24 +0000

Faith Community Church

The Faith Community Church at North Belgrade, at the corner of the Old Station Road and the Oakland Road, had its start as a Sunday School group meeting with Rev. Leo Dunn before 1950 in the now demolished North Belgrade Grange Hall. When a fund was raised in January 1951 for Charles Mason, in appreciation of his work with the group, he suggested that the money be used toward a building fund. By 1952, the present piece of land was bought from Hugh Tukey and on December 8, 1953, the unused North Belgrade station was bought from the Maine Central Railroad for $501. The following March, Hugh Tukey moved the building up the Station road to approximately its present site. July 7 of that year the building was in use, with the first service held Sunday, August 8, 1954, with Linwood Putnam pastor. A newspaper item of July 1956 notes that Rev. Bob McAlister was pastor of Faith Community Evangelical Church, with Bible Study Tuesday evenings and Prayer Meetings Thursday evenings, both in homes. By 1960, a concrete basement was built fifty feet back of the church and it was moved onto this new foundation. In 1974 a well and septic system were added and two years later the Sunday School rooms were built. The Church took its name from the Faith community church of Roslyn, Pennsylvania, an early contributor. The church was self-supported except for partial pastoral assistance by the Rural Home Missions Association. Its last pastor was George Briggs as the church reorganized in 1982 to become the North Belgrade Baptist Church under the joint pastorship of the Rev. Edward Small and the Rev. Cecil Fairley.

The most recent religious group, established March 3, 1975, is the Belgrade Bible Church, an independent fundamental Bible church. A group of women who were interested in having a year-round Sunday School, rather than only the summer sessions then available at the Old South Church, started plans in late 1974, working through the American Mission for Opening Churches. By the following March, the group was meeting regularly in the Belgrade Grange Hall, with Rev. Charles Heckert as pastor. He was followed by Rev. Enslie Clark and presently by Rev. James Ellsmore, a missionary pastor with the American Mission for Opening Churches. Construction began July 1978 on the church building, on part of the old Spaulding farm, on the north side of the Maine Route 27 (the East Road) east of Bog Brook. The first use of the building was made on February 3, 1980, though only the basement area was roofed over. This was in use for Sunday School and church services as well as Wednesday and Sunday night services. As funds became available, the congregation completed the main part of the building. In turn the church became the Lakes Christian Fellowship under new leadership of Pastor George and Barbara Finnemore.

Source material used includes: History of Baptists in Maine, Joshua Millet, 1845 History of the Baptists in Maine, Burrage, 1904 Clerk’s records, Freewill Baptist Church, Belgrade, 1802-1810 Minnie Penney’s copy of clerk’s records Of “Baptist church of Belgrade”, Oct. – Dec. 1839 The Society of friends, Rufus M. Jones, 1892 1856 Map of Belgrade The assistance of these people is appreciated by Pauline Plourde: Pastor George Briggs, Erma Tillson, Clement Rev. James Ellsmore, Ralph Endicott, Betty Grant, Mrs. Oral Page Jr., Mr. & Mrs. George Penney, Marie Pulsifer

Note: Much of this history of Belgrade churches is taken from the 1980 Town of Belgrade Annual Report and was prepared by Pauline Plourde.