Bloomfield United Baptist Church
Title
Bloomfield United Baptist Church
Creator
Avery Jackson
Source
Kings County Museum, New Brunswick.
Church Name
Bloomfield United Baptist Church
Church Association
Saint John - Kings Association
Province
New Brunswick
County
Kings County
Address
435 Route 121, Bloomfield
Status
Active
Date
Originally built 1813, current building 1911
Historical Information
Originally the Bloomfield United Baptist Church, this congregation was also known as the "The Baptist Church of Christ in Norton."
Services were held in homes (mostly the home of Elder James lnnis), following the formation of a local congregation in 1800. lt was in 1812 that "the Baptist congregation in Norton Parish, the local area commonly called Bloomfield/Central Norton, bought 2 acres of land. This would be where the Lower Cemetery is today. This two acres seems to be from lot #43 sold by Abraham Baxter on December 10, 1801 to Benjamin Fairweather. These acres were “for the use of a Church lot of the Baptist Society and for no other." The following year, that is 1813, they erected a Meeting House of 26 feet by 40 feet on the land.
The Meeting House style is typical for its time in terms of size and style of Baptist churches in Atlantic Canada. The style is characterized by being a 1 ½ wood-frame construction, with either one or two entranceways located on the gable end. One can tell a lot about the beliefs of a congregation by examining their architecture. Often when there are two doors, one located on each side of the front facade, one door was used by the men, and the other by the women. It appears the Meeting House was remodeled or replaced in 1867. The cost of doing this was $800.00. The Meeting House fell into disrepair again and it was demolished in 1919.
From the last two decades of the 1800s until 1911 , the congregation met alternately in the Meeting House and the Temperance Hall. The Hall was near where Kennedy's Stables are today. Lorna McCready said that her grandmother told of meeting in the Temperance Hall on wet days even if the service was scheduled for the Meeting House. The reason? There were holes in the roof of the Meeting House.
The fourth location of the church was the site where it stands today. At a meeting in the Temperance Hall, in May 1910, "lt was moved and unanimously carried that the offer of Frank L. Titus of land to build [a] New Church on and [to] precede [sic; proceed] to erect a Church on the same." Garnet Wilson drew up the plans and Ernest Myers was given the contract to build the new structure. The building was completed in July 1911 and dedicated July 30, 1911. That building would be roughly the overflow part and entrance of the current edifice. The total cost was $3200. A horse shed was soon added and this added $128.80 to the previous cost.
The building has had some additions added to it over the years, including a multipurpose/kitchen space located on the left of the main sanctuary. This building is now a modified “Akron Plan,” so named because it was first used in Akron, Ohio in 1867. This design abandoned the traditional long, straight, and narrow sanctuary with a central aisle in favor of a shallower and wider sanctuary with a sloping floor and pews which sweep in a half-circle and are broken into three sections. The purpose of these features was to enable everyone to see and hear clearly in a time when sound and projection systems were nonexistent. Also typical of the Akron style are sliding walls which allow the gallery to be closed off when not needed, and doors on the Sunday School rooms which completely open the front wall of the classroom. In a true Akron style Sunday School, the classes would open these doors completely so that the superintendent would be in full view to address the whole Sunday school. Doors were then closed for the class time. The sliding door could also be opened to enlarge the seating capacity of the sanctuary.
This second building is also typical for its time in terms of style, and marks a shift in Baptist church architecture in Atlantic Canada. During the early to mid twentieth centuries, it was becoming more and more common for these churches to take on a more asymmetrical design, as evident here with the tower, being placed on the side of the building, rather than centrally placed on the gable end. An interesting architectural element of this church is the tiered front facade, with three steeply pitched gable ends on the front facade, the largest being that of the main sanctuary, the second being the front entranceway, and the third being a roof over the front doors.
The Baptist presence in Bloomfield/Central Norton over the past years has gone by various names: namely, (1) the Baptist Church in Norton, (2) the Particular Calvinistic Baptist Church, (3) the Baptist Society, (4) the Central Norton United Baptist Church, and (5) the Central Norton Baptist Church. ln 2016, the church members voted to become known as (6) the Bloomfield Baptist Church - the BBC.
Information from Kings County Museum, New Brunswick.
Services were held in homes (mostly the home of Elder James lnnis), following the formation of a local congregation in 1800. lt was in 1812 that "the Baptist congregation in Norton Parish, the local area commonly called Bloomfield/Central Norton, bought 2 acres of land. This would be where the Lower Cemetery is today. This two acres seems to be from lot #43 sold by Abraham Baxter on December 10, 1801 to Benjamin Fairweather. These acres were “for the use of a Church lot of the Baptist Society and for no other." The following year, that is 1813, they erected a Meeting House of 26 feet by 40 feet on the land.
The Meeting House style is typical for its time in terms of size and style of Baptist churches in Atlantic Canada. The style is characterized by being a 1 ½ wood-frame construction, with either one or two entranceways located on the gable end. One can tell a lot about the beliefs of a congregation by examining their architecture. Often when there are two doors, one located on each side of the front facade, one door was used by the men, and the other by the women. It appears the Meeting House was remodeled or replaced in 1867. The cost of doing this was $800.00. The Meeting House fell into disrepair again and it was demolished in 1919.
From the last two decades of the 1800s until 1911 , the congregation met alternately in the Meeting House and the Temperance Hall. The Hall was near where Kennedy's Stables are today. Lorna McCready said that her grandmother told of meeting in the Temperance Hall on wet days even if the service was scheduled for the Meeting House. The reason? There were holes in the roof of the Meeting House.
The fourth location of the church was the site where it stands today. At a meeting in the Temperance Hall, in May 1910, "lt was moved and unanimously carried that the offer of Frank L. Titus of land to build [a] New Church on and [to] precede [sic; proceed] to erect a Church on the same." Garnet Wilson drew up the plans and Ernest Myers was given the contract to build the new structure. The building was completed in July 1911 and dedicated July 30, 1911. That building would be roughly the overflow part and entrance of the current edifice. The total cost was $3200. A horse shed was soon added and this added $128.80 to the previous cost.
The building has had some additions added to it over the years, including a multipurpose/kitchen space located on the left of the main sanctuary. This building is now a modified “Akron Plan,” so named because it was first used in Akron, Ohio in 1867. This design abandoned the traditional long, straight, and narrow sanctuary with a central aisle in favor of a shallower and wider sanctuary with a sloping floor and pews which sweep in a half-circle and are broken into three sections. The purpose of these features was to enable everyone to see and hear clearly in a time when sound and projection systems were nonexistent. Also typical of the Akron style are sliding walls which allow the gallery to be closed off when not needed, and doors on the Sunday School rooms which completely open the front wall of the classroom. In a true Akron style Sunday School, the classes would open these doors completely so that the superintendent would be in full view to address the whole Sunday school. Doors were then closed for the class time. The sliding door could also be opened to enlarge the seating capacity of the sanctuary.
This second building is also typical for its time in terms of style, and marks a shift in Baptist church architecture in Atlantic Canada. During the early to mid twentieth centuries, it was becoming more and more common for these churches to take on a more asymmetrical design, as evident here with the tower, being placed on the side of the building, rather than centrally placed on the gable end. An interesting architectural element of this church is the tiered front facade, with three steeply pitched gable ends on the front facade, the largest being that of the main sanctuary, the second being the front entranceway, and the third being a roof over the front doors.
The Baptist presence in Bloomfield/Central Norton over the past years has gone by various names: namely, (1) the Baptist Church in Norton, (2) the Particular Calvinistic Baptist Church, (3) the Baptist Society, (4) the Central Norton United Baptist Church, and (5) the Central Norton Baptist Church. ln 2016, the church members voted to become known as (6) the Bloomfield Baptist Church - the BBC.
Information from Kings County Museum, New Brunswick.
Files
Collection
Citation
Avery Jackson, “Bloomfield United Baptist Church,” Atlantic Baptist Built Heritage Project , accessed May 3, 2024, https://atlanticbaptistheritage.omeka.net/items/show/409.