St Anne’s Church on Indian Island, Old Town, Maine

This is St Anne’s Church on Indian Island, Old Town, Maine. This picture shows the Convent, which on Google Earth, appears to be gone. The church is white in the photo and also shows white snow all around. Currently the church is brown.
I attended Mass there as a child. We used to walk across the old metal bridge, sometimes, as my home was not far away. The wind always seemed to blow down the Penobscot River so we were most always chilled even with hats pulled over our ears.
My Gephyrophobia, or bridge phobia, made the walk interesting to say the least.
They had a 5pm mass on Sunday that was very short (30 minutes and no singing). At the time there were no Saturday masses so you would see the people who would sleep in on Sunday or workers from the day shift at the pulp mill still in their work clothes and smelling of black liquor (like rotten eggs). The Indian children used to raise hell in the front pews at times and the priest would give them the evil eye. After mass we would walk home and look for something for supper (this was the only meal of the week you were on your own in my mother’s house)

44°56'34.04"N
68°39'8.90"W

New information:

National Register of Historic Places
(added 1973 - Building - #73000141)

Old Location of St. Joseph Church

I found the answer in an excellent history of St. Joseph Church written by Genie Wollstadt.

She says that it was located in the current Forest Hill Cemetery between the first and second entrance roads. This is the location of the Catholic section, which makes sense.

My parent’s future burial site is about in this location as well as my grandparents.

44°55'14.89"N
68°38'25.75"W

More about Old Town Churches

I found a book with more pictures of Old Town, ME churches. Some are still there and I have added their locations. Some are guesses using old maps.

First Congregation (Demolished) (Star in the East Lodge #60 A.F. & A.M. on this site)
44°56'3.16"N
68°38'53.65"W

First Baptist
44°56'6.37"N
68°38'58.41"W

Methodist Episcopal (Was Demolished) (Old Town Canoe Expansion on site)
44°56'10.83"N
68°38'56.45"W

Universalist Church of Our Father (Was demolished)
44°55'58.26"N
68°38'41.19"W

Chapel Indian Island
44°56'33.75"N
68°39'8.60"W

St. James Episcopal
44°56'4.18"N
68°38'45.49"W

St. Joseph Catholic
44°55'49.14"N
68°38'37.61"W

Union at Stillwater
44°54'36.81"N
68°41'13.41"W

Baptist at Great Works
44°55'2.05"N
68°38'21.40"W

Other Churches

Top Picture Location

44°56'2.70"N

68°38'52.39"W

Church has been replaced with Masonic Lodge

Second Picture

44°55'58.44"N
44°55'58.44"N

Church no longer there

Third Picture

Same as second

Catholic Churches (Continued) Indian Island and Orono

Top Picture

Indian Island Church

St Ann's

44°56'33.75"N

68°39'8.60"W

Second Picture

St. Mary's Orono, ME

44°52'51.78"N

68°40'26.97"W

Catholic Churches (Continued) St Mary's

Catholic Churches

The following cards show some of the Catholic churches in Old Town. There were two churches when I grew up in Old Town. St. Josephs, which I was a member and St. Mary’s. St. Josephs was considered the “French” church and St. Mary’s the “English”.


If I recall correctly St. Josephs was first located in the Great Works area of Old Town then relocated near the present location, but on Water St. The present location is on South Main St. One card will show both buildings. St. Joseph’s name was changed to Holy Family when it combined with St. Mary’s and now is called the Holy Family Church of the Resurrection of the Lord Parish. I am not sure of the details of that name change, but I believe it is due to priest shortages and parish consolidations.

There were other Catholic churches on Indian Island and Bradley. I actually lived nearer to the Island church and attended there occasionally as the mass was shorter and it was an easy walk.

So please enjoy and I hope to add more details in the future.
was first located in the Great Works area of Old Town then relocated near the present location, but on Water St. The present location is on South Main St. One card will show both buildings. St. Joseph’s name was changed to Holy Family when it combined with St. Mary’s and now is called the Holy Family Church of the Resurrection of the Lord Parish. I am not sure of the details of that name change, but I believe it is due to priest shortages and parish consolidations.

There were other Catholic churches on Indian Island and Bradley. I actually lived nearer to the Island church and attended there occasionally as the mass was shorter and it was an easy walk.

So please enjoy and I hope to add more details in the future.

The church in the background is the present St Josephs and the foreground is the one since torn down.
Approx. Location of old church - in foreground
44°55'49.70"N
68°38'36.37"W
Present church
44°55'48.64"N
68°38'42.19"W