Union Church of Vinalhaven

The Union Church of Vinalhaven is a historic church on East Main Street in the center of Vinalhaven, Maine. Built in 1899, it is a high quality example of Shingle style architecture, designed by one of its major promoters, John Calvin Stevens. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.^[1]

The Union Church stands on the south side of East Main Street in downtown Vinalhaven, just east of its junction with Atlantic Avenue. The church is a single-story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof and shingled exterior. The long side of the building faces the street, with a square tower projecting at the right end. The tower rises to a louvered belfry and a pyramidal roof, whose corners have projecting hip sections over the piers that flank the belfry louvers. The main entrance is at the base of the tower, sheltered by a gabled porch. A wide wall dormer is set in the center of that facade, with a tripartite Gothic window. The west-facing gable end is also adorned with a large Gothic window, with small oriel windows on either side.^[2]

The church was built by Otto Nelson according to a design by Stevens, who was Maine's best-known architect of the turn of the 20th century. Stevens was a major promoter of the Shingle style, and this church is an excellent example of the style. It was built to replace an earlier structure, built in 1860 when Vinalhaven was a major center for granite quarrying and shipping.^[2]

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Knox County, Maine

• Official website