LINCOLN COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES WINTER LECTURE SERIES
Lincoln County Historical Association is presenting a winter lecture series beginning Sunday 03 February. The lectures are held at 2:00 P.M. on the four Sunday afternoons in February, downstairs at the 911 Communications Center located behind the Lincoln County Courthouse at Routes 1 and 27 in Wiscasset. This year’s lecture series is sponsored by Les Fossel and Restoration Resources of Alna. For schedule changes due to inclement weather, please call 737-2239 after 10:30 A.M. on the day of the lecture.
“Our series this year explores various historical aspects of transportation in Lincoln County. We proudly invite all interested people to come hear these exciting new presentations made possible by Les Fossel and Restoration Resources of Alna ” said Jay Robbins, President of Lincoln County Historical Association.
03 February, Bruce Wilson, Curator of the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway, will talk to us about the history and importance of railroads in Lincoln County. He will speak in detail about the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway describing its earliest beginnings in 1854, and its active period from 1894-1933. Over the last several years a thriving non-profit organization has been working to restore this two-foot gauge common carrier railroad for your enjoyment. Many miles of track are back in service.
10 February, Jay Robbins of Robbins Historical Research, Inc. and current President of LCHA, will speak on Bringing the Frontier Closer: 17th & 18th Century Maps, Travelogues, Diaries and other Travel Literature that served as enticements and travel guides to our early settlers. Focusing on the initial attempts to settle the greater Tidewater Kennebec River region, the presentation will expose the audience to a changing common understanding of what our region then had to offer.
17 February, Kerry Hardy of Rockport will give a presentation on Early Settlers and Old Roads of Mid-coast Maine. He will describe for us the development of the road/transportation network of mid-coast Maine. Starting with Indian paths and waterways, the talk will progress through bridal path, oxen roads, stage roads, mail routes, etc. Listeners will learn not only why today’s roads go where they do, but also where long forgotten roads once wound their way through our backwoods.
24 February, Nathan Lipfert, Curator and Library Director of the Maine Maritime Museum, will end our series with a talk on the true first beginnings of our local transportation system. Changing Times, Changing Cargoes, Changing Watercraft will examine how the types of watercraft found along our rivers and coast changed as the Mid-coast region was settled. Canoe, bateaux, gundaloe, whale boat, fishing smack, coastal schooner and steam boat are but a few of the working craft that shaped our region as goods and people were moved in and out of the area.
To find out more information about LCHA, email LCHA@wiscasset.net. You can also visit the website at www.lincolncountyhistory.org.
