St. Denis Catholic Church

St. Denis Catholic Church
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
44°13′43″N 69°36′52″W / 44.22861°N 69.61444°W / 44.22861; -69.61444
Area	2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built	1838 (1838)
Architectural style	Greek Revival
NRHP reference No.	76000102[1]
Added to NRHP	October 29, 1976

St. Denis Catholic Church is a historic Roman Catholic church at 298 Grand Army Road (Maine State Route 126) in North Whitefield, Maine. Built 1833–38, it is the third oldest Catholic church in New England. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.^[1] It remains in use as an active community of the Parish of St. Michael in the Diocese of Portland.

Description and history

The St. Denis Church complex stands in a rural setting, at a bend in SR 126 west of North Whitefield, just east of its junction with Cooper Road. The complex includes two buildings, both of brick: the church itself, located on the south side of the road, and the parish hall, on the north side. The church is a single-story structure, with a gabled roof and a square tower attached to the left side. The front facade is three bays wide, articulated by pilasters, with entrances set below square gallery-level windows. The tower is built in the Italian campanile style, with corner pilasters rises to clock stage and then an open belfry with paired round-arch openings on each side. It is topped by a flat roof. The church interior is decorated in an early version of the Gothic Revival.^[2]

The parish was established in 1818 as "St. Dennis" parish, and originally met in a wood-frame structure built on this site. Between 1833 and 1838, the main portion of the present brick building was built around that building. The parish was renamed with a single "n" in 1850. The tower was added in 1861, and the stained glass windows also date from later in the 19th century. The parish hall was built in 1871.^[2] The church underwent a major restoration in 1997.

On July 1, 2007, the parish of St. Denis was canonically merged with St. Mary of the Assumption in Augusta, St. Augustine in Augusta, St. Andrew in Augusta, and St. Joseph in Gardiner to form St. Michael Catholic Parish, serving all of central Maine.^[3]

See also

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

References

• v
• t
• e

Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland

Bishops

Ordinaries

David William Bacon

James Augustine Healy

William Henry O'Connell

Louis Sebastian Walsh

John Gregory Murray

Joseph Edward McCarthy

Daniel Joseph Feeney

Peter Leo Gerety

Edward Cornelius O'Leary

Joseph John Gerry

Richard Joseph Malone

Robert Deeley

James T. Ruggieri

Auxiliary

Amédée Wilfrid Proulx

Churches

Cathedral

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Basilica

Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Lewiston

Parish churches (list)

Holy Cross Church, Lewiston

Sacred Heart Church, Portland

St. David Church, Madawaska

St. Denis Church, North Whitefield

St. Joseph's Church, Biddeford

St. Mary's Church, Augusta

St. Patrick's Church, Newcastle

St. John's Church, Bangor

Former churches

St. Andre's, Biddeford

St. Mary's Church, Biddeford

St. Cyril and St. Methodius Church, Lisbon Falls

St. Dominic's, Portland

St. Joseph's Church, Lewiston

St. Patrick's Church, Lewiston

Education

Higher education

St. Joseph's College

High schools

Cheverus High School, Portland

Saint Dominic Academy, Auburn

Former schools

St. Joseph's School, Biddeford

Catherine McAuley High School, Portland

Priests

Denis Mary Bradley

Charles M. Murphy

Miscellany

Mercy Hospital, Portland

• Catholicism portal