Description of Historic Place

Germain Street Baptist Church is a two-storey brick Gothic Revival building with Gothic arch entrances and a three-storey tower. It is located on Germain Street within the Trinity Royal Preservation Area of the City of Saint John.

Heritage Value

Germain Street Baptist Church is designated a Local Historic Place for its architecture and for its historic significance as a religious and educational center.

Many of the buildings of Germain Street were constructed in the latter part of the 19th century or early 20th century as all the older buildings were destroyed in the Great Saint John Fire of 1877. Although each is unique, several of the churches built within a few years of the fire shared a number of Gothic Revival architectural features. Germain Street Baptist Church, as well as St. Andrew's Kirk and several others, make a significant contribution to ecclesiastical architecture of this period. Built in 1879, Germain Street Baptist Church is a good example of Gothic Revival religious architecture from the rebuilding period in Saint John after the fire. The use of this style reflected a strong desire to preserve a tradition of church architecture that persisted throughout the nineteenth century. Germain Street Baptist Church exhibits such Gothic Revival elements as a tower, hood moulding with corbel stops, as well as segmented and Gothic arch door and window openings.

Germain Street Baptist Church is also recognized for its presence as a significant religious and educational center in the City of Saint John. First established in 1818, the original structure burnt down in the Great Saint John Fire of 1877. Plans for reconstruction began almost immediately afterwards. By 1879, a church building designed by Dewar Architects to replace the former church was erected on the corner of Germain Street and Queen Street at a cost of $47, 000. It continued to expand as a center of religious and educational life. It operated a private school on its premises for several years. In 1968, a large section of the Church was replaced by a new structure. Nevertheless, much of the original building remains intact and it continues to play an important role as an historical and religious landmark of Saint John.

Source: Planning and Development Department - City of Saint John

Character-Defining Elements

The character defining elements that describe the Gothic Revival architecture of Germain Street Baptist Church include:
- two-storey rectangular massing;
- brick exterior walls;
- steeply pitched gable roof;
- octagonal, three storey tower on the north corner of the front façade;
- dormers with sharply peaked hipped roofs;
- moulded wooden cornice;
- segmented arch, two over two, wood windows across the front façade complete with sandstone sills and quatrefoils within panes;
- hood moulding with corbel stops over the segmented arch of the north entrance;
- five paned transom window in a Gothic design over north entrance;
- wooden, paired doors of north entrance with Gothic design in upper panels;
- projecting main entrance with pediment and hood moulding with label stops;
- paired wood doors of main entrance, complete with glass panels of Gothic design in the upper half.