Lincoln County Historical Association

Community Day at the Museums!
2024-04-13 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
All three of our historic museums will open for the season to tours on June 1st!

Good Grit: Black Sailors of Lincoln County
2024-03-14 17:30 - 18:30 | Online
This online program is free and open to the public. Preregistration is required. Click here to sign up.
Learn about the lives of a few of the incredible Black men— free and enslaved— who worked the waters of the Kennebec and helped shape Lincoln County. This talk will span the decades from the 1700s to the late 1800s. Korinne Tanzer will discuss early enslaved men who were forced to sea by their enslavers and men like Zina Lewis, who, full of “good grit” as reported by one local newspaper, made a name for himself as a very successful Black captain on the Kennebec River. Tanzer tells of the determination and grit of men whose stories have been hidden but who left an important mark on Maine’s rich maritime tradition.

About our speaker: Korinne Tanzer is currently obtaining a bachelor’s degree in History through Arizona State University online. She has been involved as a volunteer with Lincoln County Historical Association for two years. Currently a member of LCHA’s Board of Trustees and a member of the Wiscasset Old Jail stewardship committee, she has been researching the lives of many of the 19th century inmates. Korinne has a passion for maritime history and LGBT+ history. She currently runs a blog devoted to maritime, Maine, and queer history and her favorite Jane Austen novel is Emma. She can be reached at korinne.tanzer@gmail.com.

Thank you to Series Supporter J. Edward Knight Insurance for helping LCHA make this program available for free!

A look at Illustration and Graphic Printmaking in Colonial America
2024-03-07 17:30
Registration is required for this free online lecture! Click here to register.
Artist, printmaker, and living history presenter Andy Volpe will discuss the illustration and graphic works used in print in the American Colonial period, such as Paul Revere, William Burgis, Amos Doolittle, Nathaniel Hurd, and others were producing for newspapers, magazines, almanacks, books, etc., with aspects relating to the American Revolution and Independence.
Andy Volpe is a printer and living historian in Worcester Massachusetts, where he studies & replicates the printing and drawing techniques of the Old Masters, covering ca. 1450 to 1800. He works with Gary Gregory at the Printing Office of Edes & Gill Boston where he replicates the engravings of Paul Revere, and creating commemorative work for the American 250th celebration. He also works with the Museum of Printing in Haverhill and Worcester Art Museum (including the Higgins Armory collection), and active with several living history groups spanning Ancient Rome to American Civil War.

LCHA warming thanks Series Supporter J. Edward Knight Insurance for making this Online Lecture Series possible.

Samoset of Pemaquid: Online Lecture with author Jody Bachelder
2024-02-29 17:30 | Online
This talk is free and open to the public, registration is required. Click here to register.
Suggested donation to support LCHA programs: $5

On March 16, 1621, Samoset cemented his place in history when he boldly walked into Plymouth Plantation and greeted the settlers in English. And that’s where most history books leave him. They never hint at the extraordinary events of his life that led him to that moment, including his initial clash with the English and a possible kidnapping attempt, inter-tribal warfare that engulfed the entire coast of Maine, encounters with the forgotten Popham Colony in Phippsburg, and an apocalyptic epidemic that nearly wiped out his people. They never ask why a sagamore (or leader) from Maine would be there in the first place, or consider how dangerous that walk into Plymouth truly was.

Why does any of this matter? Because Samoset lived at an extraordinary time and place in history. He and his people, the Wawenock, were at the epicenter of initial contact with English colonizers. If we want to better understand this story, looking at Samoset’s life is a good place to start.

Jody Bachelder started her career as a teacher and quickly made the switch to library work. In 2013 she was extremely honored to be named the Walter J. Taranko Maine School Librarian of the Year. When her husband got a job opportunity out of state, she took a chance and started writing. What she thought would be a picture book grew into a history book for adults.

Growing up on the Pemaquid Peninsula in Maine where Samoset and the Wawenock lived, she knew little about the Indigenous people who called the area home for thousands of years. It was time to learn more. She began her research with the question, “What was Samoset doing in Plymouth?” The journey to find the answer was both enlightening and surprising. Here First: Samoset and the Wawenock of Pemaquid, Maine is her first book. She still plans to write for children sometime in the future.

Thank you to Series Supporter J. Edward Knight Insurance for helping LCHA provide this free lecture!

****RESCHEDULED for March 14th**** Good Grit: Black Sailors of Lincoln County
2024-02-22 17:30 | Online

Getting to know Rachel Carson: best-selling author, scientist, conservationist, advocate
2024-01-25 17:30 | Online
Biologist/author Rachel Carson standing seaside, examining specimen in jar. (Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
Rachel Carson was famously one of the essential sparks in the environmental movement and, although lacking the usual scientific credentials, a major force in national scientific debates. Yet she was a shy, retiring and humble person. How did she come to have such an important influence? What roles did her writing and her ties to Lincoln County play? And what can we learn from her that would inform our current debates on climate and conservation? In an online lecture co-hosted by Lincoln County Historical Association and Old Bristol Historical Society, Barbara Vickery will begin to answer these questions and introduce us to one of our region’s most well known and influential figures.

Barbara Vickery

About our speaker, Barbara St. John Vickery
After serving as rare plant botanist with the Maine Critical Areas Program. Barbara joined the staff of The Nature Conservancy Maine in 1983 as Director of Science and Stewardship and later served as Director of Conservation Programs until retirement in 2017. After her husband’s death she worked with a team to edit her husband Peter Vickery’s life work, Birds of Maine, published in 2020. She serves on the Maine Board of Environmental Protection and Forest Society of Maine board, is an active member of the Citizen’s Climate Lobby Midcoast Maine chapter, and is a member of six local organizations whose trails she uses regularly, including the wonderful trails of LCHA’s Pownalborough Court House across the Kennebec from her home in Richmond.

Preregistration is required for this online program: click here to register
Thank you to Series Supporter J. Edward Knight Insurance for helping LCHA make this program available for free!

Annual Meeting & Members Gathering
2023-11-02 17:30 - 19:00 | Huntoon Hill Grange Hall, Wiscasset
The Annual Meeting & Members Gathering is a favorite annual event open to all current LCHA Members where we will gather to celebrate 2023 and look ahead to 2024. Guests are asked to please bring an appetizer to share, if possible! Please email Shannon so we know how many people to expect.
(if you are not a current member, but you want to come to this wonderful gathering, you can still come if you join now!)

Special for this event
The Collections Committee is putting together a unique “pop-up” exhibit exclusively for this event. We are looking forward to highlighting some unexpected and fascinating objects that are coming out of storage just for this event!
You’ll see some gems from our collection – including a mystery object (can you guess it’s use?), Civil War era finds, fun and whimsical 19th century gems, and more!

Pumpkinfest Demonstrations and Tours at Chapman Hall House
2023-10-08, 2023-10-07

Cider Pressing at Pownalborough Court House
2023-10-07 10:00 - 14:00 | Pownalborough Court House, 23 Court House Rd, Dresden, ME, United States
Join us as we welcome autumn at the Pownalborough Court House with a FREE cider pressing and sampling! There’s something for the whole family to enjoy!
-The historic courthouse will be open for tours from 10:00am until 4:00pm–tour admission is $10 for adults and free for kids under 16.
-And as always, our system of hiking trails is free and open to the public. Why not try a fall nature hike?

Reenactors at the Pownalborough Court House
2023-09-30, 2023-08-19 | Pownalborough Court House, 23 Court House Rd, Dresden, ME, United States
Step into the past and talk with characters straight out of the 18th century at Pownalborough Court House.

Online Talk: Along Route One with author Susan Bregman
2023-09-28 17:30 - 18:30 | Online
Author, writer, and photographer Susan Mara Bregman presents the story of Route One from her new book, Along Route One, in an online talk for Lincoln County Historical Association on September 28th at 5:30 pm.
Advance registration required to attend this talk being held using Zoom. Registration is free and open to the public. Your donations help us continue to share the stories of our local history widely to people of all ages.
CLICK TO REGISTER
CLICK HERE to make a donation that will support ongoing high quality programming.
Route 1 in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts is an unapologetic combination of historic gravity, exuberant entertainment, unexpected juxtapositions, and wonderfully kitschy roadside attractions. New England road trippers will encounter roller coasters and candlepin bowling, lobster rolls and homemade pie, colonial-era taverns and granite fortifications. An orange dinosaur overlooks the highway in Massachusetts, a neon whale casts its glow in New Hampshire, and a statue in Maine memorializes a celebrity harbor seal. Motor courts once welcomed weary travelers, and drive-in theaters entertained vacationers on starlit summer nights. A geodesic dome is dedicated to the Maine wild blueberry, and a quirky museum documents the history of the state’s sardine industry. A club in Massachusetts showcased jazz greats, and a movie theater in Maine was named after a celebrated racehorse. Mile after mile, Route 1 tells a story about history, survival, loss, and change.
Bregman is also the author of Arcadia Publishing’s New England Neon and New England Candlepin Bowling. A native New Yorker, she moved to Boston after graduating from college and never left. The remarkable photographs in this book came from historical societies, museums, libraries, universities, and private collections.

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***CANCELED** Shape Note Singers in the Court House
2023-09-16 10:00 - 14:00 | Pownalborough Court House, 23 Court House Rd, Dresden, ME, United States
Maine Shape Note Singers are hosting a workshop/demo on Saturday September 16th from 10am to 2pm at the Pownalborough Court House, 23 Court House Rd, in Dresden Maine.

Shape Note Singing is a musical practice and tradition of social singing from music books printed in “shape notes”. All singing is done with no instruments and dates back to the early 19th century.

Come to join in singing and or ask questions and just enjoy the music.

The event is free but a donation is always welcome and helps keep our historic properties alive.

Preservation Party
2023-09-10 16:00 - 19:00 | Pownalborough Court House, 23 Court House Rd, Dresden, ME, United States
LCHA’s Annual Fun & Fundraiser!
Join us for a wonderful evening while supporting the stewardship of local history!
For more information, visit our event page, here: https://www.lincolncountyhistory.org/preservation-party

Chapman-Hall House Yard Sale Fundraiser
2023-08-26 08:30 - 13:30
Come check out the treasures we have available at this fabulous yard sale. Proceeds support the Chapman-Hall House of Damariscotta.

Summer With The Past
2023-08-11, 2023-08-10, 2023-08-09, 2023-08-08, 2023-08-07 | LCHA Museum at the Old Jail, 133 Federal St., Wiscasset, Maine
Summer Day Camp held at Wiscasset’s Old Jail and Jailer’s House Museum.

Summer With the Past
2023-08-07 - 2023-08-11
A week at the Old Jail

Learn about the art of rug hooking at Chapman-Hall House
2023-08-06 12:00 - 16:00
Textile artist Kathie Hills will discuss the art and craft of hooking rugs and their significance to the local area in a presentation at the Chapman-Hall House in Damariscotta on Sunday, August 6, from 12:00 – 4:00 pm. A skilled designer, Mrs. Hills will demonstrate the craft and exhibit pieces she has created.

Mrs. Hills learned the craft from LaVerne Dickson and Margorie Freeman, local women known for their mastery of this functional art form. A member of the Waldoboro Historical Society, Mrs. Hills is well versed in the history of hooked rugs and their significance to Waldoboro.

On permanent display at the Chapman-Hall House are twelve antique hooked rugs, two of which show designs in the early stages of development. Also included in the exhibit is a copy of the 1884 E.S. Frost Rug Patterns catalog. Edward Sands Frost of Biddeford, Maine was famous for selling canvases printed with pattern designs for various size rugs, foot stool covers and even slippers. Only a few pattern illustrations are printed in the catalog, which offers for sale nearly 200 canvases at prices ranging from 15 cents to $1.25.

To celebrate this special event, admission to the historic site is free, but donations are very much appreciated. The Chapman-Hall House is located at 270 Main Street, Damariscotta.

The Chapman-Hall House is one of three historic sites under the care of the Lincoln County Historical Association. The Lincoln County Historical Association is a nonprofit organization that provides stewardship for the 1754 Chapman-Hall House, the 1761 Pownalborough Court House in Dresden, and the 1811 Old Jail and Museum in Wiscasset. For more information about the Lincoln County Historical Association visit www.lincolncountyhistory.org and Facebook at Lincoln County Historical Association Maine.

1772 Cookbook Celebration
2023-07-28 14:00 - 16:00 | Pownalborough Court House, 23 Court House Rd, Dresden, ME, United States
Lincoln County Historical Association is pleased to announce the publication of the first facsimile edition of Susannah Carter’s “The Frugal Housewife,” first published in Boston by Edes and Gill
in 1772.
Our copy has an unbroken provenance since Major Samuel Goodwin bought it on Aug. 28, 1772 , through his family and descendants until it came into the ownership of the LCHA in 1954. This edition has a few missing pages (due to heavy use) but is mostly intact. And it does include the two pages of engravings on how to prepare poultry and small game for roasting (10 in all) created by Paul Revere.
This facsimile edition will be introduced for sale at a celebration to launch the cookbook at Pownalborough Court House on Friday, July 28 at 2 p.m.
For further information, please contact, by email : LCHAsamsbook@gmail.com

Dresden Summerfest
2023-07-09 11:00 - 14:00 | Pownalborough Court House, 23 Court House Rd, Dresden, ME, United States
Fun for the whole family with a bit of history. Past years have included face painting, balloon artist, caricaturist, pie contest, re-enactors from Colonial Maine Living History Association, tours of the court house (free for Dresden residents) wagon rides, local crafters, music and grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, sausage plus drinks & dessert! Stay tuned for the 2023 line up!

Garden Tour
2023-07-01 10:00 - 14:00
Saturday Tickets Available 22 Lewis Point Road, Damariscotta, opening at 10. All gardens open until 2pm, so come buy your ticket early enough to leave time for the tour!!

View some of the most beautiful private gardens in Lincoln County. Enjoy these local treasures while also gaining inspiration for your own garden. The tour is self-paced with selected sites in Wiscasset and Dresden showcased from 10-2 on Friday and others in Damariscotta, Newcastle, and Round Pond showcased from 10-2 on Saturday.

Preregistration is encouraged, but tickets may also be purchased on the day of the event for $35.

The Gardens of Lincoln County
2023-06-30 10:00 - 14:00
Tickets now available at the following link: https://www.lincolncountyhistory.org/garden-tour/
View some of the most beautiful private gardens in Lincoln County. Enjoy these local treasures while also gaining inspiration for your own garden. The tour is self-paced with selected sites in Wiscasset and Dresden showcased from 10-2 on Friday and others in Damariscotta, Newcastle, and Round Pond showcased from 10-2 on Saturday.
Guests may purchase a ticket for Friday, Saturday, or both days with the option to add a boxed lunch on either or both days.

Preregistration is encouraged, but tickets may also be purchased on the day of the event for $35.

Summer With The Past
2023-06-30, 2023-06-29, 2023-06-28 | Chapman-Hall House, 270 Main Street, Damariscotta, ME, United States
Summer Day Camp at Chapman-Hall House
