If you can identify where this photo was taken, contact us at [email protected] or call 689-2896 and leave a voicemail with your answer, your name, town and phone number. Correct entries will be put into a drawing for a $25 gift card courtesy of Hannaford Supermarkets.

We did not have a Mystery Photo last week as Mystery Photo Czar Russ Dillingham was on vacation. We received a number of incorrect entries for the previous week’s Mystery Photo from people guessing it was the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston. However, the majority of entrants correctly identified the dedication stone of the former St. Mary’s Church at 46 Cedar St. in Lewiston, now home to the Franco Center.  In a random drawing from all the correct entries, Joanne Charpentier of Poland was picked as the winner of a $25 Hannaford Supermarket gift card.

The photo was taken just to the left of the main entrance to the church as you face it from Cedar Street.  Some of the following is from the Franco Center’s website: “St. Mary’s Church was the third oldest Catholic Church in Lewiston and it hosted its first Mass in the basement on Christmas Day in 1907. In 1930, a Boston newspaper published a photo of St. Mary’s and judged it to be the most beautiful church in New England. Until the day it closed in 2000, the church continued to hold Masses in English and French.  An estimated three-quarters of Franco-Americans of this area has been baptized or married in the church, or attended school at L’École St. Marie just down the street. At one time, St. Mary’s Parish was a thriving and well-attended church. However, with the decline of the industries that encouraged families to populate the neighborhood, the church began to suffer financially. The Catholic Diocese of Portland announced that it would be closing St. Mary’s as of July 1, 2000. Many people in the community, led by former Lewiston Mayor Lionel Guay and Rita Dube, wanted to preserve this symbol of local Franco-American culture. They formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and bought the church from the diocese for one dollar, which in turn saved the diocese nearly a quarter-million dollars in demolition costs. After closing St. Mary’s Church, the church was deconsecrated and the Franco-American Heritage Center was established as a performing arts and cultural facility.”