Thomaston: The Town that Went to Sea

The Congregational Church, built by Benjamin L. Dean on land donated by Benjamin and Judith Bussey in 1826, contained 78 pews valued at $4066. In 1847 the Thomaston Academy building was built to the east of the church. At this time the federal style of architecture was being replaced by the Greek Revival, which used proportions and ornamentations of Roman design that linked our new government with the ideals of ancient Greek democracy. The Academy building is a fine example of Greek Revival architecture, with a triangular pediment, entablature and columned portico. A half-round window appears in the tympanum above the front entry. The Congregational Church, built a few years before the Academy, was also strongly influenced by the Greek Revival style. The two were similar in appearance.

In 1828 there was a revival within the Congregational Church, which added 64 new names to the church membership. Among the new members was Henry Jackson Knox, now a man around 50 and thoroughly ashamed of the years wasted in dissipation. He is said to have lived an exemplary life thereafter, but his marriage had not survived and his family had suffered humiliation.