Architectural History

The origins of what was originally called the Central Church date to 1846, when members of a religious group known as The Third Parish appointed a building committee to construct a house of worship. Members of that committee were William M. Rogers, John Patten, Jeremiah Robinson, Otti Kimball, and C.S. Jenks. They commissioned Arthur Gilman of Boston to design a church in the Greek Revival manner, which was then “beginning to gain wide acceptance as a style for New England houses of worship,” according to Maine Historian Earl J. Shettleworth.

Shettleworth continues:  “When Gilman planned Bath’s Central Church in April of 1846, he designed a modified wooden version of Trinity Central Church in New York City. He provided the church’s building committee with a set of 29 detailed architectural drawings ranging from framing plans to cornice profiles.”

On June 8, 1846, the committee signed a contract with master builder Isaiah Coombs to build the church at a cost of $10,000. Coombs had just completed erecting a similar building in Brunswick, the First Parish Church, which has enjoyed enduring support from loyal parishioners who continue to worship there today.

The Bath church was completed in 1847 and named Central Church. In later years the Central Church was re-named the Central Congregational Church.

By the mid-1960s, the fate of the Central Congregational Church was in jeopardy. Declining membership at this church as well as the Winter Street Church just up the street, another Gothic revival-style church built in 1843, prompted parishioners to consolidate the two. Both buildings were preserved by the efforts of Sagadahoc Preservation, Inc., a nonprofit formed by civic-minded citizens in the community to make sure these extraordinary buildings were not torn down.

In the late 1960s, a young New York theatrical designer named Jack Doepp took an interest in the venerable, vacant building.  Jack Doepp bought the building and soon formed the Performing Arts Center of Bath.  With an all-volunteer staff, the center began presenting concerts and plays for mid-coast audiences.

No one would refer to this new venture as the Performing Arts Center of Bath. The name did not stick. Therefore, the Chocolate Church Arts Center was incorporated and received 501(3)(c) status in 1977. Over the ensuing decades years the Chocolate Church Arts Center has presented visual and performing arts to midcoast Maine while preserving and protecting its historic home. A sense of community has been central to the Chocolate Church since it opened its doors in 1977 and community involvement is what keeps the doors open today. All are welcome and everyone will be entertained.

Writing in 1974, Maine Historian Earl Shettleworth summed up the deep significance of this historic place we call the Chocolate Church:‍

"It is a 19th century monument in the midst of one of Maine’s most well preserved cities. The church’s individual merit was established in 1971 when it was recorded by the Historic American Building Survey for the Library of Congress. It’ significance as part of Bath’s city-scape was further recognized when it was included in the 1974 Washington Street National Register Historic District. It is an irreplaceable local landmark which has meaning to the heritage of the state and the nation.”