St. Jude Church History
Main Street
Freeport, ME 04032

History records show that the first Mass was said in Freeport in 1916; however, it wasn’t until 1928 that land was purchased by Sacred Heart’s pastor, Father Joseph Quinn, for a mission church in this community. In 1933 a small metal building was dedicated as St. Joseph’s Church, located in what is now the church parking lot on School Street.

Part Two: The Road towards a Parish
Fund raising began during the 1940s for a more permanent structure to be built on the land temporarily leased to a gas station. In the 1950s the gas station exploded. The church took back its lease and continued fund raising while still using the metal building as a church. In the 1960s a heating stove in the metal building malfunctioned, leaving the interior covered with soot. The building, now unfit for use, was sold and moved.


Part Three: Renovations

Owning land but no building, the community worshiped in the nearby Nordica Movie Theater, where smells of popcorn lingered from the night before and the ticket booth doubled as the confessional.

Slow moving fund-raising efforts had a boost with a significant  anonymous donation, given on the condition that the church would be renamed for St. Jude. Construction began in 1964 and the completed church was dedicated on Easter Sunday of 1966. Over the next 30 years the parish hall was finished and the main church renovated.

Today St. Jude is an active church in the midst of Freeport’s thriving shopping district, working in partnership with Sacred Heart, Holy Martyrs, and St. Gregory as the Parish of the Holy Eucharist to proclaim and celebrate our faith.

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