jan 1, 1875 - St. Savior's, Bar Harbor
Description:
St. Saviour's Episcopal Church, an active parish of the Diocese of Maine, is housed in the oldest public building on Mount Desert Island. The church and the rectory are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Although there had certainly been Episcopal worship on Mount Desert Island before 1867, the first officially recorded worship service was in that year when Bishop Henry Adams Neely visited and, after an eventful journey, celebrated the office of Evening Prayer at the Rodick House Hotel in Bar Harbor. Recognizing an opportunity for mission, Bishop Neely returned to Mount Desert Island himself later that summer, the next year, and many times thereafter. By the summer of 1870 there were enough individuals at East Eden (later Bar Harbor), both 'rusticators' and local people, to form a congregation.
Land was purchased in 1871, and the first building, which is the present transept, was completed in 1878 and consecrated by Bishop Neely in 1879. The church is named for the French Jesuit mission, Saint Sauveur, which was established on the island in 1613. The Reverend Canon Christopher Starr Leffingwell, formerly the Rector of Christ Church, Gardiner, was St. Saviour's first vicar. Some of the founding families included Mr. and Mrs. Gouverneur Morris Ogden, Charles J. Moral, Robert Amory, J. Montgomery Sears, Gardiner Sherman and Edward Coles.
With a large year-round congregation and summer attendance often exceeding one thousand, more space was needed. In 1885, the original building became the transept for the new church with a sixteen-foot radial apse and Italian marble high altar. The ninety-foot central tower, shingled walls, and roof show the influence of Henry H. Richardson's design of Trinity Church in Boston's Copley Square. In 1888, Mrs. William Vanderbilt had a church hall built for the Sunday school. At the turn of the century, the present chancel and sanctuary were added, given by the Charles Carroll Jackson family. The Chapel of St. Mary was given as a memorial to her husband by Mrs. C. C. Jackson, and the rectory and connecting cloister were built as a memorial to her sister Mary Van Ness in 1899.
In 1902, a small gatehouse was donated by Mrs. John Harrison and moved to the church property. A few years later, through the efforts of John C. Livingston, a larger hall was built as an addition to the parish house. Over the years, these premises have been used as an industrial school, gymnasium, naval barracks in both World Wars, refuge for those burned out in the 1947 Fire, and the Eden Nursery School, the first Bar Harbor program to support working mothers.. In 2016, St. Saviour’s donated the Parish House to Community Housing of Maine and Local Solutions to be remodeled into supportive housing for differently-abled adults.
The ten-bell carillon was given in 1938 by William Pierson Hamilton in thanksgiving for his wife Theodosia’s recovery from a serious illness. A design was made for a stout stone tower to house the bells, but before it could be built Mr. Hamilton had a falling-out with the parish and withdrew his offer. The vestry voted to build a “temporary” steel tower, which is still in service.
The 1947 Fire changed the face and economy of the town. Of the 170 local families burned out, 42 of them were members of St. Saviour's, including the owners of many of the elaborate summer “cottages.” As Bar Harbor recovered and evolved from a playground for the rich into a tourist destination for all, St. Saviour’s solidified its connection to the year-round community while still welcoming visitors from all over the world.
Added to timeline:
Diocese of Maine Bicentennial
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