Tucked into the Munjoy Hill neighborhood of Portland, Maine, the Abyssinian Meeting House occupies 73–75 Newbury Street. Look at this modest, steadfast building: it was built between 1828 and 1831 by free African‑Americans and is Maine’s oldest African‑American church building, and the third‑oldest in the nation. The Abyssinian was formed to meet the demand from African‑Americans in Portland for a place to worship, and across decades it became a cultural center.
Here people gathered for worship and revivals, for abolition and temperance meetings, for speakers and concerts, and for the work of the Female Benevolent Society. It hosted the Portland Union Anti‑Slavery Society and negro conventions, and it housed the black school in Portland from the mid‑1840s through the mid‑1850s. You can feel the layers of purpose that built this place: it is the only Underground Railroad site in Maine recognized by the National Park Service, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Christopher Christian Manuel, Reuben Ruby, Caleb Jonson, Clement Thomson, Job L. Wentworth, and John Siggs are among those whose names are tied to these early efforts. Notice this modest facade, and the Munjoy Hill streets that still carry its story.