Lockeport United Baptist Church

Lockeport United Baptist Church

Lockeport United Baptist Church

Shelburne Association

Nova Scotia

Shelburne County

Spruce St, Lockeport, NS

Active

Built 1882

A meeting of the Baptist congregation of Locke’s Island was held on April 10, 1882, resulting in the declaration of the intent to build a new house of worship to shelter the growing membership of the Church Street congregation. The building was to be erected on a lot belonging to Clifford Locke, located on Spruce Street. A building committee was formed consisting of W. Wallace Kenney, Joseph Bill, Austin Locke, Amasa Fiske, and Churchill Locke. Amasa Fiske was contracted to build the foundations and Rev. J. Albert Durkee was pastor at Locke’s Island when the new meeting house was being built. On September 27, 1882, the cornerstone stone was laid by Pricilla Locke, granddaughter of Abigail Locke (the first person of the congregation to be baptized). Locke witnessed the baptism of her grandmother many years prior and witnessed the beginnings of all three Baptist meeting houses built on Locke’s Island, now Lockeport.

This cornerstone included a metal box from inside the church, containing photos of four generations of the Locke family, literature and history on the Baptist churches and faith in the region. These photos of the Locke family were placed here to demonstrate the long attachment the family has had to the church.

This building was constructed in the Gothic Revival style, and has a large square tower on the northwest corner that contains a bell. This tower once supported a tall spire that has since been replaced with a pyramid style top. A second, smaller tower on the southeast corner of the building has a hipped roof which still be seen today. There was another decorative tower, which has been removed. The western end of the building has two tall windows, above which is a large round window of colored glass. A smaller triangular window is high in the gable end. Most of the openings in the building are topped with gothic arches and decorative molded trim.

Information from the Lockeport United Baptist Church and Jacklin, D., Nickerson, D. W., & Walker, K. R. The churches of Shelburne County, 1765-1950. Shelburne County Genealogical Society: 2006.