page_title: Yarmouth, Maine
section_title: Churches
hierarchical_section_title: Yarmouth, Maine / Churches
caption_attribution_description: First Baptist Chuch, Yarmouth, Maine
context_page_description: Yarmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, located twelve miles north of the state's largest city, Portland. The town was settled, while a district of Massachusetts, in 1636 and incorporated in 1849, 29 years after its admittance to the Union. Its population was 8,349 in the 2010 census. As of 2018's estimation of 8,518, this is about 0.6% of Maine's total population. Five islands are part of the town.
  Yarmouth is part of the Portland–South Portland-Biddeford Metropolitan Statistical Area.
  The town's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, and its location on the banks of the Royal River, which empties into Casco Bay less than a mile away, means it is a prime location as a harbor. Ships were built in the harbor mainly between 1818 and the 1870s, at which point demand declined dramatically. Meanwhile, the Royal River's four waterfalls within Yarmouth, whose Main Street sits about 90 feet above sea level, resulted in the foundation of almost sixty mills between 1674 and 1931.
  The annual Yarmouth Clam Festival attracts around 120,000 people over the course of the three-day weekend.
  Today, Yarmouth is a popular dining destination, with thirteen sit-down restaurants.
context_section_description: There are eight churches in Yarmouth. Four of these are located on Main Street. They are (from east to west):
  First Universalist, 97 Main Street (built 1860). Designed by Thomas Holt for an Orthodox Congregational parish; became its current denomination in 1886. The site was formerly occupied by Jenks's Tavern
  First Parish Congregational, 116 Main Street (built 1867). Designed by Portland architect George M. Harding. The third incarnation of churches built for the town's Congregationalists. Charles Augustus Aiken was ordained a pastor here in 1854
  Sacred Heart Catholic, 326 Main Street (built 1929 from granite quarried in North Yarmouth)
  First Baptist, 346 Main Street (built 1889; designed by John Calvin Stevens)
  Elsewhere, the North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meeting House (known locally as the Meetinghouse on the Hill) on Hillside Street was built in 1796. It has been twice altered: by Samuel Melcher in 1825 and by Anthony Raymond twelve years later. It ceased being used as a church in 1889, when its congregation moved to the structure now on Main Street. The 1805 bell was transferred to the new home. The meeting house was unused for less than a year. It was purchased for $1,000 and converted into the town's first library and antiquarian society and known as Yarmouth Memorial Hall. It was donated to the town in 1910 and used for town meetings until 1946, at which point they were moved to the Log Cabin on Main Street. During World War II, the belfry was used an airplane-spotting outlook post in the Civil Defense System. Twelve townsfolk per day manned the tower in two-hour shifts. In 1946, the Village Improvement Society (founded in 1911) agreed to maintain the interior of the meeting house. In 2001, the town and the society restored the building, from its granite foundation to the barrel-vaulted ceiling. A non-denominational church service is held here during the town's Clam Festival. The building is owned by the Yarmouth Village Improvement Society.
  St. Bartholomew's Episcopal is at 396 Gilman Road, heading towards Cousins Island. It was built in 1988.
  Royal River Baptist Church is in Yarmouth Marketplace at 438 Route One.
  Cousins Island Chapel (1895) has been holding non-denominational services since 1954 in a former Baptist church.
  The Church of the Nazarene on Route 1 became inactive in June 2012 and was demolished in the spring of 2015.
caption: First Baptist Church
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone SE", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "11.0", "Image DateTime": "2017:08:26 11:34:07", "Image ExifOffset": "180", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1166", "EXIF FNumber": "11/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "25", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:08:26 11:34:07", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:08:26 11:34:07", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "9983/980", "EXIF ApertureValue": "7892/3469", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "10991/1062", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "83/20", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[2015, 1511, 2217, 1330]", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "594", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "594", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3024", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4032", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "29", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[83/20, 83/20, 11/5, 11/5]", "EXIF LensMake": "Apple", "EXIF LensModel": "iPhone SE back camera 4.15mm f/2.2"}