St. Joseph's Catholic Church Established 1828 Fr. Paul Sullivan S. J. 51 Washington Street, Eastport, ME 04631-1226 Rectory: 207-853-2825 Parish Hall [11 Chapel Street]: 207-853-0874 E-mail: hebajeau@prexar.com Saturday Mass: 4 p.m. Sunday Mass: 10:30 a.m. Weekday Mass: 9 a.m., Monday - Friday Holy Days: 5:15 p.m. (Anticipation): 9:00 a.m. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, First Sunday of Each Month, 12:30 - 3 p.m Confessions: Saturday: 3:15-3:45 or by calling the Rectory.

History of St. Joseph's Church


Today Eastport’s name is mainly associated with the weather maps as the northeasternmost City on the US Atlantic coast. Located on Moose Island on the US - New Brunswick, Canada border, this now-quiet community bears the legacy of a colorful history. During the War of 1812 it was under British military occupation for four years. Following the war it was a booming center of legal and illegal maritime trade, second only to New York City in 1833 as a port of entry for foreign vessels. The process of canning fish was successfully begun in the US in Eastport, and the town became the center of a fish-packing industry that lasted into the 1950’s. Since then the fish, canneries, and most of the population have gone, but Maine’s smallest city (pop 1640) remains the deepest deep water port on the US east coast and a center for fish-farming.

As a continuing institution, St. Joseph in Eastport is one of the oldest Catholic communities in Maine. Excepting the Native American missions at Old Town and nearby Pleasant Point, only St. Patrick Church in Newcastle and St. Denis in North Whitefield predate the construction of the original St. Joseph Church in 1828. The Catholic roots of eastern Maine and the territory which would become St. Joseph Parish reach back nearly four centuries to the earliest recorded arrival of Christianity in northern New England.

In 1604, sixteen years prior to the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts, a French expedition piloted by Samuel de Champlain arrived in the Passamaquoddy Bay region (now the border between Maine and New Brunswick, Canada). A settlement was made at St. Croix Island about 14 miles upriver from present-day Eastport. It would be on this island, within the original boundaries of St. Joseph parish that between June 1604 – August 1605 that in all likelihood the first Mass in New England was celebrated. From this and other 17th century missionary contact the local Native American Passamaquoddy people embraced Catholicism.

Shortly after the American Revolution John Carroll, the first Catholic Bishop of America, moved to answer the repeated requests of the Passamaquoddys for a priest. One of the earliest of the priests sent was Fr. John Lefevre de Cheverus who was in 1810 to become the first Bishop of New England (and later Cardinal Archbishop of Bordeaux, France). Cheverus visited the Passamaquoddy reservation at Pleasant Point (1897-1804) and also began to tend to Irish families living in nearby Eastport. Among those following Cheverus were Rev. Virgil Barber, SJ and Rev. James Fitton who was the founder of what was to become under Jesuit sponsorship in 1843, the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, the first Catholic College in New England.

St. Joseph Parish traces its beginning to the arrival in Eastport in 1826 of Rev. Charles Ffrench , an Irish Dominican priest.[note it is 2 ff’s!) Ffrench had pastoral responsibility for the entire coast of Maine from Eastport to Dover, New Hampshire and soon had churches building in Eastport and Portland, Maine and Dover. The cornerstone of St. Joseph was laid on April 29, 1828. Although there were about 300 Catholics in Eastport by that time, their financial status was not great, and it was a struggle to build the modest 50x32 foot church and rectory. James Durnin, the first Maine-born Catholic to be ordained a priest was born the year St. Joseph Church began and in 1867-69 served as pastor of his home parish. Another son of the early days of the parish, John Barry, later became the first man ordained (1864) by David Bacon, the first Bishop of Maine. During the 1850’s the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) centered mission work in Maine out of Eastport and later Bangor. Future Presidents of the Jesuit institutions Holy Cross College, Boston College, and Fordham University served in Eastport. One of these men was Fr. John Bapst who later suffered persecution in Ellsworth and founded St. John Parish in Bangor. In 1978 several pieces of a china set Fr. Bapst gave to Alice Morgan, his housekeeper as a wedding gift were returned to then pastor Fr. Joseph E Mullen, SJ by Alice’s granddaughter Alice McCoy.

Increase in the Catholic population of Eastport resulted in the need for a new church. In 1871 the 1828 building was moved across the street where it remains today in use as the Parish Hall. The second St. Joseph was completed in 1874. However Eastport’s booming population and economy necessitated a major expansion of that church, raising it three or four feet and lengthening it by thirty feet. It was this 1887-1888 construction that made the church what it is today. The construction and embellishment of the church and construction in 1885 of the present rectory were directe by Fr. John O’Dowd who served as pastor 1882-1896. When he left Eastport he moved to Portland where he was the founding pastor of Sacred Heart Church . A new sanctuary, communion rail, pews, and a Hook and Hasting pipe organ were added at that time, all of which remain in use today. A 1200 pound bell from the McShane foundry in Baltimore replaced an earlier bell in the steeple. Also added in 1888 were the chapel, now a favorite place for small group gatherings, and the “music room” with an elaborately decorated tin ceiling. Both rooms have been restored.

Despite the economic hard times in the 1920’s, a decade ahead of the depression which would reach the rest of the nation in the 1930’s, St. Joseph parish did undertake a second renovation campaign in time for its 1928-1929 centennial year. A major concern at this time was the condition of the churchwindows. Fr. Joseph Sullivan wrote the Bishop of Portland in 1922 “one [of the windows] is patched with cardboard, having been shattered last Spring by winds, seven others because of their frailty are protected by storm windows the year around…”

The windows were replaced between 1922-1925. Those in the main church depict the life of Christ; those in the steeple behind the organ are done in a delightful musical motif. Over the years this set of windows has been admired by parishioners and visitors for their vibrant color and intricacy of design. In 2000 they were inspected by Northern Lights Studio of Canaan, Maine and declared to be in excellent condition. Unfortunately there is no documentary evidence concerning their production. They were judged by Northern Lights to be a superior example of a studio “church set” probably from Boston and reflecting a German influence in design.

A renovation of the church undertaken entirely by members of the parish several years ago restored the sanctuary to its 19th century appearance while yet being in harmony with the liturgical life of the church today. The color scheme reflects the earlier use of shades of green, gold, and red in the church and has emphasized the warmth and color of the windows.

While today’s parishioners are reduced in number from the “glory days” over a century ago, those who remain are proud of their beautiful building and more importantly have worked to build a community of church within the parish and in ecumenical ties to our sister churches. “There is something special about this church,” visitors often remark. The building is indeed attractive, but it is sense of the community – Church in the truest sense – that they are catching. Music has always been a part of parish life. Accounts survive of the parish musicals, chorus and various organists. This tradition continues with our present talented organist Edward French who is also editor of the local paper. For the last ten years the parish has hosted an ecumenical Service of Advent Lessons and Carols which features choral and congregational singing. The parish has also developed a modern reputation for good cooking with the Pre-July 4th Chicken BBQ and annual Pig Roast rating as community-wide events.

A place of great beauty, a parish now about to celebrate 175 years of history, a strong sense of place, a community and parish trying to build a future here “on the edge” – that is St. Joseph Church.