THE STORY BEHIND WISCASSET SPEEDWAY’S NEWEST ADDITION
The are many things that make Wiscasset Speedway special and unique. The latest addition to the facility proves this point once again. Nestled proudly along the fence between the main grandstand gate and the pit gate, stands an exact-scale replica of the Union Church, a local landmark once dubbed “the smallest church in the world”.
The original church was built in 1958 by Reverend Louis West at the corner of Rt 218 and Clark’s Point Road near the Wiscasset / Alna town line. Over it’s time between 1958 and West’s passing in 1966, the church reportedly performed ten weddings and one baptism. Following Reverend West’s passing, the church was maintained as a memorial to his years of dedication to the church. Sadly, over time, it was vandalized, rundown, and eventually torn down.
The connection to Wiscasset Speedway is through track owner Richard Jordan’s family – specifically his Aunt Edna Verney. Edna was a fixture at the front gate of the track in the early years of Jordan’s ownership. She also did many odd jobs around the facility to get the place up and running. According to her granddaughter Paige Woods, Edna was fascinated by the church’s history and would visit it often with her children and friends. It was Edna’s dream to one day have the church rebuilt someday. One of the people she expressed this dream to was her nephew Richard Jordan. She even had in mind the person she wanted to build it. Sadly Edna passed away in December and was not able to see her dream come to fulfillment.
Longtime racer and track volunteer Bill Pierce is also a skilled carpenter, and he gladly took on the task of building the church, per Edna’s wish. Bill meticulously worked on the church in one of the track’s garage bays over the winter, and it was completed in early April, just before the track’s opening day. The Verney family provided a photo of Edna and the steeple bell. There are plans to hold a formal dedication ceremony at a later date.
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