



Westport Community Church
The Westport Community Church is a striking, small Greek Revival structure adjacent to Westport Island’s Town Hall. Thought to have been originally built in the 1830s on the property of James McCarty, and used there for a time as a Music Hall, the building was moved to its present site in about 1864, where it was placed on its current stone foundation.
On March 28, 1864 James McCarty deeded the property to trustees for the church under the Eastern Maine Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The deed stated that the trustees shall “change and convert or cause to be changed and converted the Hall now standing on the said lot into a neat, convenient and comfortable house or place of worship for the use of the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America…”.
Renovation to the building involved the installation of pews featuring wood-graining decoration, and a raised pulpit. Money for reconstruction was raised by selling pews. The church became known as the ‘Center Church’ when the North End Chapel was established in the 1870s.
Membership rose and fell during the early 20th century. In the early 1950s some Westport residents were concerned about the deteriorating condition of the church. In 1955, Eleanor H. Smith, who owned the neighboring house which became the Squire Tarbox Inn, made a proposal to organize a group to take responsibility for the restoration of the Church. In order to obtain the church from the Methodist Conference, it was necessary to have a formal organization and in October 1955 the Westport Community Association (WCA) was formed. After considerable negotiation, title to the church property was received.
The WCA has completed quite a few updates to the church over the years, both structural and visual. They continued to organize church services for year-round and summer residents for many summers, but in recent years attendance was so low that the Association discontinued them. The Church continues to be used for weddings, memorial services, and other special events.
In 2002 the Westport Community Church, along with the adjoining Town Hall, were entered in the National Register of Historic Places.