Pavillion [Third] Congregational Church / McArthur Public Library [1863]: Sanctuary
270 Main Street
Biddeford, ME
Note: Not extant. Not playable. (in this location)
Images
before 1902 - Photo of a framed image hanging in the McArthur Public Library showing the organ case in front. (Photograph by Joe Sanderson, submitted by Jim Stettner/Jim Stettner)
before 1902 - Framed photo hanging on the McArthur Public Library showing the church interior and organ. (McArthur Public Library image, submitted by Joe Sanderson/Jim Stettner)
1870 - Church exterior (Photograph from an archival source: Maine Historical Society: Maine Memory Network, submitted by Jim Stettner/Jim Stettner)
Consoles
Main; chancel
- Organ type: Traditional With Hinged Doors That Enclose Keyboards
- Console position: Keydesk Attached, Manuals Set Into Case
- Key action Type: Mechanical (Details Unknown)
- Stop action Type: Mechanical
- Stop layout Type: Drawknobs in Vertical Rows on Flat Jambs
- Pedal Type: Flat Straight
Notes
2022-02-02 - This entry represents the installation of a new organ. Identified by McArthur Public Library staff member, Joe Sanderson. -Jim Stettner
2022-02-02 - From the Maine Historical Society 'Maine Memory Network' website, *"The Pavilion Church (the Third Congregational Church) was organized in 1857 and services were held in the hall over the offices of the Pepperell Mills for several years. The church building was erected in 1863, from plans drawn by a Boston architect. The church was an offshoot of the Second Congregational Church, after parishoners became split over the slavery issue. The anti-slavery parishoners broke off in 1863 and formed the Pavilion Church; the rest of the congregation stayed at what became known as the "White Church. The main structure was finished by the close of 1863, but the tower (and steeple) was not built until 1864. The clock was added early in 1865, and formal dedication was made on February 14, 1865. The steeple was struck by lightning in the 1880s and the top portion was removed in 1902 when the building was taken over by the McArthur Library."*
Disposition of the organ after acquisition by the Library in 1902 is presently not known. -Jim Stettner
2022-02-03 - Credit for identifying the builder belongs to David Wallace, who stated in an email February 3, 2022, *"Alan Laufman and I found the same photos that your correspondent sent when we were researching the 1992 OHS "Organ Handbook". The organ is noted on page 73 and 74 of that publication. Stephen Pinel's new book on the works of Edwin L. Holbrook mentions the organ on page 27 with a photo on page 26. It must have been a decent instrument that unfortunately came to the typical end as happened to so many fine old instruments after the turn of the 20th century."* -Jim Stettner
2022-02-06 - According to the 1992 Organ Historical Society Convention Handbook, pg. 73, *"The First Universalist Society of Biddeford was organized that same year [1827]. Their first church building was on Storer Street in Saco; in 1859 they had to sell it. By 1868 they had raised enough money to build a new church on City Square in Biddeford. Just what the organ in that building may have been, history does not reveal, but it was sold in 1902 to make way for installation of the large 2m 1865 E. L. Holbrook from the former Pavillion Congregational Church in Biddeford. In 1917, the Holbrook was replaced by the McArthur Memorial Organ, built by the Estey Co. Op 1580, 1917."*
The subsequent disposition of the Holbrook is not known. -Jim Stettner
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