Port Williams United Baptist Church

The Port Williams Baptist Church was established by a Free Baptist fellowship in a neighbouring community and grew out of the vision of a laywoman and the Sunday school movement. It was supported by a community familiar to the comings and goings of people of many backgrounds. In the first few years, meetings were held in a carpenter shop.

On September 29th, 1862, Reverend A. S. Hunt bought land from Elisha Best for fifteen pounds ($60) to build a church. For $600 a Mr. Taylor from Falmouth put up the frame and finished the exterior of the building. In 1868 the vestry was completed by Isaac Masters and in 1877 the upper storey of the sanctuary was overseen by Reuben Farnham of Canard. Pews, a bell, baptistery, and furnishings were purchased from the Disciples church for $400 in 1923. In 1957 there was an extensive addition added to make room for Sunday school and youth work. The church was lowered on its foundations by six feet and a new heating system was installed, along with a modern kitchen, ladies’ parlour and washroom at a cost of $9000. Lockwood Hall was built from monies received from the estate of Tobin S. Lockwood. In January 2000 a memorial wing was opened, contains a church office, pastor’s study, nursery, and kitchen on the upper floor, while the lower level has classrooms, meeting rooms, kitchenette, and storage areas. These new church’s facilities, officially opened in January of 2000, provided the building with wheelchair accessibility (lift), a kitchen, nursery, library, and increased space for Christian education activities.

This church is a prime example of Gothic Revival architecture, with a three-bay façade, gothic style windows with tracery and label moldings, and narrow pilaster or corner boards, typical of many country churches. One of the most eye-catching features of this structure is its imposing centrally place steeple, with an octagonal spire that still contains its original metal weathervane and bell. Along the centre of the tower is the most impressive of its vast collection of stained glass, and it is by far the widest of all the original windows on this structure. On the square part of the steeple are Gothic Revival style windows on all four sides, near the peak of the main structure.

On each side of the main structure are three impressive examples of Gothic Revival window frames that had stained glass depicting Christian scenes added later. Another impressive feature visible on the front façade of the church is the return eaves, which reach all the way to the centre of the building and connect to the steeple, helping to further define the three-bay façade.

Information from Nelson Labor and Linda Hart, Kings County Churches, Kentville: Kings Historical Society, 2014, and the church.