Criterion C: Architecture
Period of Significance: 1855-56
Local Level of Significance
Orr's Island Meeting House is located on the island of that name in Harpswell, Cumberland County, Maine. The gable front building with minimal decoration or detail is significant at the local level under Criterion C for architecture as a good example of its type, period and method of construction. The building is a type employed by smaller congregations often in isolated locations and reflects modest rural church architecture of the mid-nineteenth century. The small one room building was shared by four denominations as a union church for the first forty years of its existence and has always been used exclusively for religious purposes. Orrs Island Meeting House is an example of a small, modest rural church building with almost no embellishment which retains high integrity. Many similar examples have been heavily modified, added onto or destroyed. The period of significance is the 1855-56 construction date. Criteria Consideration A applies as the church was owned by a religious organization and still functions periodically as a church. The building meets the Criteria Consideration as it is being nominated solely for its architectural significance and not for any religious association.