A cherry blossom tree in full pink bloom over the garden entrance and red door of First Parish Church in Portland, Maine, with people relaxing on a bench below.

First Parish Church, Portland

April blossoms. Photo: Corey Templeton

As the oldest place of worship in the City of Portland, First Parish Church stands tall along Congress Street, a wonderful example of Federal period architecture. Construction began on this granite iteration in 1825, replacing “Old Jerusalem,” a wood framed building from c.1740 that served the congregation until 1820. It was in that building where a peace treaty with the Norridgewock Indians was signed in 1749 and where the State of Maine Constitution was drafted in 1819. When the current building was completed in 1826, the Simon Willard clock from 1802 was reinstalled in the tower, along with the 1810 steeple bell. The clock is the last remaining and functioning of its kind.

Surviving the Great Fire of 1866, the church has weathered more than 190 years on the peninsula. When you visit, be sure to look up at the immense 600-pound glass chandelier hanging from the center of the meeting house. You’ll notice a series of cannonballs embedded in the chain. These British cannonballs – evidence of the bombardment of Portland during the Revolutionary War – were discovered when “Old Jerusalem” was demolished to make way for the current structure.

Making your way around the meetinghouse, look for the numbers on the pews. A number of these still have the names of the families who worshiped here, including the Longfellows. Today, all pews are owned by the congregation and are open to all for use.

First Parish Church is still a hub of community activity in Portland, today. As the congregation says, “First Parish, in many ways, is a church of contrasts – we worship in an old, formal building with a commanding mahogany pulpit and fixed pews, and yet we espouse progressive religious ideas of inclusion and service that are on the cutting edge of progressive spiritual practice.”

First Parish Church - Portland

A detailed pencil sketch illustrating an early landscape labeled "CONGRESS ST. IN 1800," showing several multi-story houses, rural fences, grazing livestock, and a prominent meeting house with a tall steeple on a hill. — Charles Quincy Goodhue shows Congress Street in Portland as it looked in 1800. The land around the houses serves as farmland. Shown at the right is First Parish Meeting House (Old Jerusalem). Photo: Maine Historical Society.

Front view of First Parish Church, a granite stone building with a tall white clock tower and steeple, red doors, and a car parked on the street below. — First Parish Church today. Photo: Sarah Hansen.

A sepia-toned vintage street photograph looking down a dirt road toward a stone church with a tall clock tower and steeple, with a few pedestrians and an old-fashioned street lamp in the foreground. — First Parish Church, Portland, ca. 1910. Photo: Maine Historical Society.

Interior of First Parish Church sanctuary, showing red-cushioned pews, a balcony, an ornate crystal chandelier, and the organ pipes above the altar, with visitors gathered inside. — Interior of the church showing the chandelier and pews. Photo: Sarah Hansen.

A black and white architectural photograph of a historic stone church featuring a prominent clock tower and tiered steeple, with a vintage automobile parked on the street in front of its fenced-in yard. — Historic American Buildings Survey Allen L. Hubbard, Photographer April 27, 1936 VIEW FROM SOUTH EAST. Photo: Library of Congress.

An elevated black and white photograph capturing a close-up perspective of a stone church's clock tower and weather-vaned steeple, overlooking surrounding multi-story brick city buildings and a street below. — Historic American Buildings Survey Allen L. Hubbard, Photographer April 22, 1936 VIEW OF STEEPLE. Photo: Library of Congress.

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