Free Baptist Church

Believed to have been constructed in 1833, the Free Baptist Church is a modest wooden frame building that combines Greek and Gothic Revival stylistic features. It is distinguished, however, by the extensive and remarkably well-preserved decorative interior finishes that appear to have been added during the third quarter of the nineteenth century.

The history of the Free Baptist congregation in the neighborhood now known as Penley's Corner or South Auburn, can be traced to the beginnings of Baptist preaching in this area. In 1808 the Rev. Daniel Hutchinson held the first services in the western part of Danville (a township which became the southern part of Auburn City in 1867). This congregation grew slowly in numbers until the period 1826-1834 when some 140 persons were added to its rolls. Apparently, a sizeable number of the members were settled in the vicinity of the existing church building because, on March 5, 1833, thirty of them were dismissed from the parent congregation "...for the purposes of being organized into a new church...." It is assumed that they built their house of worship during the ensuing months on land provided by John Penley (1782-1833) whose former farm surrounds the lot.

Documentary records did not survive a 1940s fire in the Church secretary's home making it impossible to know the exact subsequent history of the congregation. The 1873 Atlas and History of Androscoggin County Maine indicates the church's location and carries a brief sketch of the congregation's formation. A comparison of subsequent issues of the Maine State Year Book and Legislative Manual, however, shows that between the years 1880 and 1881, the congregation must have ceased holding regular meetings because there is no additional listing of a clergyman representing this congregation. It may be that services were only held on an infrequent basis after that, a theory which is supported by a comment in the 1891 History of Androscoggin County in which it was stated that "Changes in population have now reduced its (the Church's] membership to about a score and it is unable to maintain worship regularly."

Nevertheless, some measure of activity must have continued since a large gold gilt bible was given to the Church in 1894. By the turn of the century, all worship had ended until its brief period of use in the 1950s by the Church of God Brethren. Early in the next decade, the non-profit group called Members of the Community of the Penleys Corner Church was organized to preserve the threatened building. In 1969 the church was opened for what was to become an annual service, the building having been completely restored and carefully maintained since.

The primary significance of this building derives from the integrity of the late nineteenth-century remodeling within the confines of the original shell. From the exterior, the only major change was made with the introduction of a colored Queen Anne-style upper sash in place of the original windows. Inside, the changes were much more substantial. The ceiling was lowered and the new wooden surfaces were carefully detailed with stencils and a tri-color paint scheme. A stenciled pattern was also painted on the wall surface framing the remodeled pulpit. In addition, wainscoting was installed along the walls and an ornate chandelier was affixed to the center of the new ceiling. Some of these elements survive in Maine churches and there is ample evidence to suggest that the use of stenciled finishes was prevalent in the late nineteenth century. Still, few of them have been identified with the range and integrity of features found here.

Architecturally, this church building is among the most modestly detailed of its period in the Auburn area. The use of the arcade, however, is somewhat unusual and more like the engaged gable end porches found on existing commercial and residential buildings in parts of Oxford County to the west. Curiously, this arrangement was also utilized (with the addition of a tower and fluted Doric columns) in the design of the 1838 First Congregational Church in New Gloucester, the neighboring town to the south. No documentation has been uncovered to link the two buildings beyond this shared characteristic.