PARIS — The historic First Baptist Church of Paris, on the Paris Hill Common, has returned to its roots after being transferred to the Friends of the First Baptist Church of Paris Maine.

The church has served as the cornerstone of the village of Paris since 1803. Built of heavy hand-hewn timbers and hand-wrought nails, the structure was completed and dedicated in May of 1804 by Elder Hooper. Within a generation, the structure fell into disrepair and was disassembled timber by timber.

The current structure, built 34 years after the original church was finished, was built on the same site with salvaged timbers and was dedicated on Dec. 6, 1838, by the Rev. Caleb Davis. The  church has been repaired and improved upon as necessary over the years, including the addition of a vestry in 1864. The church steeple houses a Revere bell cast in 1892 and a Howard clock circa 1883. The clock was donated to the church by Hannibal Hamlin,  vice president under Abraham Lincoln, whose birthplace sits across from the church.

At some point in time, the church ownership was transferred to the American Baptist Churches of Maine (ABCOM) in Augusta. As the congregation declined and the future of the church’s success waned, the Paris Hill community formed a nonprofit Friends of the First Baptist Church of Paris Maine, whose sole mission was to maintain and preserve the iconic building and commons so the property could never be sold, developed or subdivided.

ABCOM, church members and the Friends joined to finalize the transfer of the church and commons to the Friends and the Paris Hill community is once again reunited with its historic church, which will remain available to the Baptist ministry for Sunday services.