There are two Russian Orthodox churches in Maine.  The older of the two, the Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Church was established in Richmond in the 1950's by Russian-speaking immigrants.  The end of the second World War brought to the U.S. an influx of White Russians, anti-Communist refugees from the Bolshevik Revolution who had been living in Yugoslavia.  Some 300 of these Russian-speaking families were lured to Richmond by an expatriate Russian nobleman who wanted to establish a Russian community in a place that reminded him of his homeland.  As a result, Richmond became the largest rural Russian-speaking community in the U.S. at that time.  It boasted three Orthodox churches, Russian-owned businesses, shops, and restaurants.  Although half a century later the Russian-speaking community is much smaller and two of the orthodox churches are no more, the Alexander Nevsky church still thrives as it serves the children and grandchildren of the orginal settlers, as well as American converts.  For many years, it was the only Russian Orthodox parish in Northern New England.

The Holy Nativity Russian Orthodox Church was founded in the early 1990's.  Its congregation has around 50 members, most of them former Protestants or Catholics.  Only a few are of Russian ancestry.  Currently housed in a small, rented former carriage house, the congregation is raising funds to buy a larger, more suitable building in the Portland area, preferably a former church building that could be reconsecrated.  (The information in this paragraph comes from "A Place to Call Home: The Holy Nativity Orthodox Church in South Portland Seeks a Larger Site," by Tess Nacelwicz, Maine Sunday Telegram, 7/7/99.)

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