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Home My WebLink About88 Old Main History and ownershipBass River Church Notes as of: 11/28/16 oan The Bass River Baptist Church is located in the center of the town owned Historic Cemetery, at 88 Old Main Street in the Bass River Historical District. In 1824, Rev. Simeon Crowell founded the First Baptist Church of Yarmouth and donated this land for the church. In 1826 Captain Freeman Baker, donated $600 to build the church which was so small and unattractive it was called "The Lord's Barn". In 1860, an extension was built and a steeple, bell and belfry were added along with clapboard siding to make it a more attractive place to worship. In 1891, the church was raised and a vestry was added beneath it. This is an attractive unique church with its extremely long windows and tall steeple which was replaced when it fell in 1914. Then in 2010, the steeple was leaning and in danger of falling, so it was removed and has not been replaced. Meanwhile, ospreys have begun nesting there during the summer seasons and this past winter, some of its siding fell off creating an opening under the roofline leaving it susceptible to weather and critter damage. Needless to say, in order to preserve the integrity of this historic building, it is in desperate need of immediate repairs. To that end, the YHC has taken an active interest and has been working with the CPC to move forward with this endeavor. The first step in this process is to contact the owner to discuss the situation and to offer the YHC's assistance in obtaining funding from the CPC to finance the repairs. Efforts have been made to contact: Need details. Unfortunately, at this point in time, we have not been able to determine who currently owns this building. A title search recently performed by Town Council concluded that the likely owner of the building is The American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts. To confirm this, Beverly Bachand contacted the utility companies, but they would not reveal this information. On October 17, 2016, the Building Department sent an Inspection Request letter addressed to the Bass River Community Church, 84 Old Main St., SY asking for a response within 10 days of receipt. Question for Building: Has a response been received? if yes, from whom? if no, what is the next step? Repairs cannot proceed unless/until the owner expresses interest in doing so.