Westbrook then and now
The Old Westbrook Congregational Church, shown in the photo on the left, was built in 1834 on Main Street at Brackett Street.
On Sept. 2, 1869, 19 members of the church were dismissed to form a new church at Cumberland Mills that became known as the Warren Congregational Church.
Both churches served the community into the 1970’s.
Urban Renewal purchased the Westbrook Congregational Church as part of the downtown renewal project. The old Warren Congregational Church was in need of extensive repair work and at this time, the congregation decided to sell the church and adjacent buildings to the city of Westbrook.
The old church was demolished, the adjacent parish house became the Westbrook police station and the old parsonage was sold and moved to upper Cumberland Street near the Windham line. Both congregations merged as the Westbrook-Warren Congregation and built a new church downtown.
The site of the old Westbrook Congregational Church is now occupied by a one story commercial building and Brackett Street between Main Street and William Clarke Drive was closed off to become a small plaza.
Photos courtesy of Mike Sanphy
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