Goldboro United Baptist Church

Goldboro United Baptist Church

Goldboro United Baptist Church

Colchester-Pictou-Guysborough Associatio

Nova Scotia

Guysborough County

Goldboro

Inactive

Originally Built 1857, current building 1904

To those familiar with Isaac’s Harbour, there can be little disagreement with the words of the former president of Acadia University, Dr. Thomas Trotter, who, having viewed the waters framed by gently rising land, pronounced it an “idyllic piece of coast scenery”. Seamen, particularly, saw this place as a haven and, over the years, many ships sought refuge from the storms or laid in port over the weekend here. Since many of the first settlers in Goldboro and Isaac’s Harbour were Baptist, it is fitting that a church of that denomination was built in 1857. It stood on the Isaac’s Harbour side as does its successor, which was built in 1874 and is still in use today (2021). In May 1898, a meeting was held to consider the building of a church in Goldboro. On January 12, 1899, Goldboro Baptist Church was formally organized. 65 members of the Isaac’s Harbour Church on the western side transferred their membership from the parent body to constitute the new congregation on the east side of the harbour. The Reverend O. P. Brown was the first pastor of this church. In 1911, the Goldboro and Isaac’s Harbour churches decided to share in the support of a minister who would serve both congregations. These formed part of the Bayview District United Baptist Pastorate (Guysborough Co., NS) along with New Harbour and Seal Harbour Baptist Churches.

This church is unique architecturally speaking; it has a very interesting color pattern on the façade of the building (yellow and white sections), which appear to be original. The building consists of a main sanctuary with one centrally placed large gothic window, with a smaller one on either side of it on the gable end. The side of the building is broken into two sections, one containing the large rectangular steeple, and the other a dormer with a medallion window and smaller entranceway. One of the most eye-catching pieces of detail on this building is the amount of craftsmanship that is displayed through the multiple designs in the moulding and trim boards.

Information was provided by M. Allen Gibson, Churches by the Sea, Chronicle Herald, July 8, 1989.