The former Abyssinian Meeting House is historically significant as the religious, educational, and cultural center for Portland?s nineteenth-century African American population. It is the earliest religious property associated with a black congregation in Maine (1828). The property also hosted a school for African American children, a residence for the minister, and may have been the site of a community spring or well. Prior to and during the Civil War members of the Abyssinian congregation were associated with abolitionist activities in Portland. Although greatly modified by conversion to apartments in the early twentieth century, the Abyssinian Meeting House survives in its original location and has deep roots and associations within the neighborhood. While the building itself is significant as the location of African American religious practices, social and community life, the lot upon which it sits is undisturbed land harboring archaeological sites that have the potential to illuminate the history of Portland?s African American community. This property was placed in the National Register of Historic Places at the state level of significance as a source of above-ground and below-ground (archaeological) information that will help to round out the understanding of nineteenth-century Portland?s African-American population in the areas of religion, education, social and cultural history, land use, and architectural practices.