The original construction contract for the Union Meeting House was awarded to builder Calvin Ryder in March of 1833 for just under three thousand dollars. Funds were raised to build the structure by selling pews to local residents for $60 dollars each. The building was completed and dedicated on January 1st, 1834. The Meeting House is home to an 1832 Revere Bell, which is one of only 112 still known to exist. The original intent of the building was to serve as a multi-denominational meetinghouse for the community and was used as such until 1850 when Winterport’s Methodists organized their own church. The Meeting House then served as a Congregational Church until well into the next century.

The steeple clock was added in 1861 during the Civil War and its giant hands still keep time for the citizens of Winterport today. This mechanical clock was manufactured by the E. Howard Company of Boston, which was noted as the first American clockmaker to produce electric time systems.

Due to declining attendance in the church, services ceased after World War II and minimal maintenance was carried out until 1976 when the Winterport Union Meeting House Corporation was formed and assumed responsibility for the care and maintenance of the property. The church was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Like many historic structures, The Winterport Union Meeting House suffered from deferred maintenance. Water intrusion caused structural damage to the steeple and lack of ventilation led to dry rot in the floor joists. In the summer of 2006 Ames A/E engineers declared the building unsafe for public use. This determination placed a fund-raising concert by the famed Kruger Bros. Bluegrass group in jeopardy. Nickerson & O’Day, in just four days worked ceaselessly in an emergency effort to replace or reinforce the crawlspace support posts and the floor joist/beams to carry the floor loads and Ames certified the building safe for the concert. After the concert, the major structural problems in the steeple and the front of the building had to be addressed. It was noted that the main window on Main Street was under pressure from the gravity loads above and bowed about three inches out of plane and near collapse. Many of the support columns and cross beams supporting them in the steeple were badly decayed and settling causing the structure to lean to the south.

From the beginning this has truly been a community-wide effort. The Winterport Union Meeting House Corporation organized several fundraisers, the MBNA Foundation and the Narragansett Number One Foundation both awarded
grants, the town held baked bean suppers at the local school, the volunteer fire department painted the new siding and so on. Even a $50,000 anonymous gift was received. In every sense, this project unified the town of Winterport.

Nickerson O’Day worked well with this group and helped to stimulate the project.  “Synergy” is the word the Winterport community uses. When the Meeting House Corporation was half-way to its fund-raising goal it asked Nickerson O’Day if that were enough to get started.  The construction company took a big gamble and started even though it knew the fundraising status.  The Winterport community credits this leap of faith for strengthening the community’s belief and support for the project.  This belief pushed the fundraising over the top, and saved the building.

 Nickerson & O’Day proceeded with the structural repairs from foundation granite, which was reset, new pressure treated wood sleeper sills and new columns from ground level to the bell foundation level were installed. Structural scaffold with access stairs was erected up the entire front of the building and wrapped around the bell tower to encase and protect the workers through the winter season. As the siding was removed to expose the structure, it was discovered that only the clapboards and shiplap siding had been holding up the front of the building. Structural framing timbers were rotted out and had settled from two to six inches or were just “swinging in air” with no support. After the structure was jacked into level, new wood framing was installed, walls were insulated and new clapboard and shiplap siding and trim was installed to restore the building to its original condition.

The sound louvers below the clock level and the four clock faces and numbers were badly deteriorated and missing. Nickerson & O’Day carpenters completely replaced each face with wood as originally constructed right down to the Roman numerals on the face. The louvers were removed, repaired, repainted and re-installed with new drip pans to route any moisture outside the building face. The weathervane and decorative sphere was completely rusted through. It was rebuilt new using the original equipment as a template and guide to the materials originally used.

The completed project now allows the Winterport Union Meeting House to be used as it has in decades past as a beautiful community building looking out over the Penobscot River and is an inspiring sight for visitors and townspeople alike as they arrive by land or pass by on the river.

For its outstanding efforts to preserve and revive a community centerpiece of, we are pleased to present a 2010 Maine Preservation Honor Award for Excellence in Restoration to Winterport Union Meeting House Corporation with special recognition to Nickerson & O’Day; and with recognition for the efforts of the, the MBNA Foundation, the Narragansett Number One Foundation, and the Town of Winterport and its volunteer fire department.