Amherst Point Baptist Church
Title
Amherst Point Baptist Church
Church Name
Amherst Point Baptist Church
Church Association
N/A
Province
Nova Scotia
County
Cumberland County Churches
Address
908 Southampton Road, Amherst Point, Nova Scotia
Status
Active
Date
Built 1853
Historical Information
The Amherst Point Baptist Church, built in 1853, is a modest, wooden, one-storey country church built in the form of the traditional Meeting House. The church sits amid mature trees on the western outskirts of Amherst, Nova Scotia, on its original site with its ungabled side facing
the road. It is near the dykelands of the Tantramar Marshes and is backed by a Provincial Bird Sanctuary.
The value of the Amherst Point Baptist Church is found in its association with prominent Cumberland County individuals, and in its being an excellent example of a country Baptist Church built in the Meeting House tradition, with Classical Revival and Gothic Revival
elements.
Historical Value
The Reverend Dr. David Allan Steele and the Reverend Charles Tupper were two of the serving pastors in the Amherst Point Baptist Church. Steele was well-known for his strong oratory style, and was highly respected in Cumberland County as a community leader of great intelligence and tolerance who inspired others to follow his example. Tupper was a highly-regarded minister, writer, and advocate of temperance and education who helped establish Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Tupper was also the father of Sir Charles Tupper, a local doctor and politician who was a Father of Confederation and a Prime Minister of Canada.
Architectural Value
The Amherst Point Baptist Church is representative of many rural, Protestant churches built in Cumberland County in the mid to late nineteenth century. It is a wooden, symmetrical, Meeting House style building with a medium-pitched roof, pedimented gables, and simple ornamentation. The characteristic symmetry is evident in the church’s two-bay façade and the three large, rectangular windows that line each side of the boxy church. Its Classical Revival temple-like
architecture is adorned with a wide frieze, and heavy, prominent pilasters framing the two entries and acting as corner boards. Also of note are prominent labels crowning each side window, and
triangular openings in the gables, the front one being a window decorated with diamond-shaped tracery. The Gothic Revival triangular shape of these gable openings is echoed in the pointed
arch above the two entries, and the upper edges of these triangles are accentuated with scalloped bargeboard.
Information and images from Canada Historic Places
the road. It is near the dykelands of the Tantramar Marshes and is backed by a Provincial Bird Sanctuary.
The value of the Amherst Point Baptist Church is found in its association with prominent Cumberland County individuals, and in its being an excellent example of a country Baptist Church built in the Meeting House tradition, with Classical Revival and Gothic Revival
elements.
Historical Value
The Reverend Dr. David Allan Steele and the Reverend Charles Tupper were two of the serving pastors in the Amherst Point Baptist Church. Steele was well-known for his strong oratory style, and was highly respected in Cumberland County as a community leader of great intelligence and tolerance who inspired others to follow his example. Tupper was a highly-regarded minister, writer, and advocate of temperance and education who helped establish Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Tupper was also the father of Sir Charles Tupper, a local doctor and politician who was a Father of Confederation and a Prime Minister of Canada.
Architectural Value
The Amherst Point Baptist Church is representative of many rural, Protestant churches built in Cumberland County in the mid to late nineteenth century. It is a wooden, symmetrical, Meeting House style building with a medium-pitched roof, pedimented gables, and simple ornamentation. The characteristic symmetry is evident in the church’s two-bay façade and the three large, rectangular windows that line each side of the boxy church. Its Classical Revival temple-like
architecture is adorned with a wide frieze, and heavy, prominent pilasters framing the two entries and acting as corner boards. Also of note are prominent labels crowning each side window, and
triangular openings in the gables, the front one being a window decorated with diamond-shaped tracery. The Gothic Revival triangular shape of these gable openings is echoed in the pointed
arch above the two entries, and the upper edges of these triangles are accentuated with scalloped bargeboard.
Information and images from Canada Historic Places
Files
Collection
Citation
“Amherst Point Baptist Church,” Atlantic Baptist Built Heritage Project , accessed April 26, 2024, https://atlanticbaptistheritage.omeka.net/items/show/201.