Maine historic preservation

Point O’ View Cottage // 1892

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The Point O’ View Cottage in Kennebunkport sits on a large lawn on the rugged Maine coast, with sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean. Built in 1892 by Burleigh S. Thompson as a rental property (he rented it for $1,500 for the summer) the nine-bedroom “cottage” was designed in a Tudoresque version of the Queen Anne architectural style and originally named Fort Bradford. The cottage (like others built for Mr. Thompson) was designed by Henry Paston Clark, THE architect for the Cape Arundel Summer Colony in the 1890s, who also designed St. Ann’s Episcopal Church and other cottages nearby. The cottage was renovated more in keeping with the Shingle style and was entirely clad in cedar shingles, but it retains its perfect, rustic stone foundation and rounded porch. It is now known as Point O’ View Cottage. What a view it has!

Thompson Ice House // c.1826

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

In 1826, a man named Asa Thompson, dammed a small brook from natural springs on his property in present-day South Bristol, Maine, and created Thompson Pond. He began cutting ice blocks for his own use. His neighbors began to purchase blocks of ice from him and he built this ice house sometime after to store blocks after harvesting from the pond. Thompson created a business, harvesting, shipping and selling ice blocks to residents in town and beyond. The property remained in the Thompson family until 1987, when it was gifted to a non-profit board to preserve the site indefinitely. Today, the Thompson Ice House Harvesting Museum showcases the tools of the trade with a participatory ice harvest takes place there annually. The building is opened on appointments or certain events.

S Road Schoolhouse // 1860

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The S Road Schoolhouse is the last-remaining one-room schoolhouse in the charming coastal town of South Bristol, Maine. The structure was built in 1860 as the District Five School for the Town of Bristol (South Bristol set off and incorporated as a separate town in 1915). This building replaced an earlier schoolhouse on the site that was on the 1857 Map of Lincoln County. By 1895, enrollment was about 16 but rose to the mid-twenties after other schools closed in the early 1900’s. The school is said to have closed in 1943 following the death of the teacher here, it never reopened. The South Bristol Historical Society recently restored the building following a successful capital campaign, gathering funds from members and town citizens, preserving this lasting remnant of days past.

Walpole Meetinghouse // 1772

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The Old Walpole Meetinghouse is a rare extant example of a Colonial meetinghouse in New England. The building is located in South Bristol, Maine, in the village of Walpole, and was constructed in 1772. The Walpole Meetinghouse is a little-altered example of a late colonial church in Maine (and one of the oldest actively used churches in the state.) The building originally housed a predominantly Presbyterian congregation of Scottish immigrants, but as the presbytery was based far away in Boston (Maine at this point was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) the congregation eventually became Congregationalist. The Georgian-style building is clad in wood shingles, originally stained painted a brownish yellow to blend in with the birch leaves as to camouflage it among the trees. The building was painted white in the 20th century. It is one of a few extant meetinghouses in New England that utilized shingle siding instead of the quintessential New England clapboards. It is said that these are still the original shingles. Inside, the doors all enter the single main chamber, where the ground floor is dominated by a series of box pews and the elevated pulpit is sited at the north wall. It is maintained by the South Bristol Historical Society, and is still used occasionally for summer services.

Wadsworth Hall // 1800

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Wadsworth Hall is a significant and hidden estate house located in rural Hiram, Maine. The house was built in 1800 for Peleg Wadsworth (1748-1829), an officer during the American Revolutionary War and a Congressman from Massachusetts representing the District of Maine. He was also grandfather of noted American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. General Wadsworth’s primary residence, now known as the Wadsworth-Longfellow House in Portland, Maine, was built in 1785–86. Following the war, Wadsworth was granted 7,800 acres of land by the state in 1790 for his war service, the land was located here in Hiram. General Wadsworth would build this large Federal period home. After, he gave his Portland home to his daughter Zilpah and her husband Stephen Longfellow, parents of the poet Henry W. Longfellow. Wadsworth, in his role as a leading citizen in Hiram, opened his house for meetings and town functions, and even used the large hall for militia drills during bad weather.

Hiram Lodge 39, Knights of Pythias // 1895

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Another of the extant, significant vernacular buildings in the small town of Hiram, Maine, is this large frame building on Main Street. Hiram Lodge #39, Knights of Pythias, was organized in 1883 and a building was constructed on this site around that time. The first meeting hall was destroyed by fire in 1895, and soon-after replaced by this large lodge building, which is possibly the largest wooden building in town!  On the destruction of that first “hall” by fire in 1895, the Lodge hired Alva Ward to build what is probably the largest wooden building extant in Hiram. The Knights of Pythias Hall is important as a remnant of Hiram’s earlier commercial prosperity, with general store on the first floor, a large hall on the second floor (where dances, theatrical performances, and public suppers were held), and the lodge hall on the third floor.

Mount Cutler Grange Hall // 1875

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The two-and-a-half story Mount Cutler Grange Hall in Hiram, Maine, is a plain but important vernacular structure near the western end of the town’s Main Street. Originally organized in 1875 by local farmers, the local grange was able to dedicate its present building in late December of that year. Attributed to local builder James Lot Hill, the clapboard-covered frame building has a three-bay facade and retains its original windows. Once the site of grange store, the well-preserved structure still displays a fine late-nineteenth century sign above its first story. Little changed over the years, the Mount Cutler Grange Hall remains an important part of Hiram’s social fabric, but appears vacant or largely unused. Hopefully some life can be brought back to this significant building (and other abandoned Grange Halls in New England).

Hiram Village Store // c. 1850

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Hiram is a small, rural town in Oxford County, Maine, and has a handful of notable old buildings. The town was incorporated in 1814 and was occupied by white settlers as early as 1774. The land here has long been heavily wooded and the town’s name was inspired by the biblical King Hiram of Tyre whose kingdom was set among “timber of cedar and timber of fir.” The town’s two villages, Hiram Village and South Hiram, grew along the Saco River, and are typical rural villages built around industry and modest frame dwellings. This commercial building is one of the larger structures in Hiram Village and it dates to the mid 19th century. The structure was owned by Thomas B. Seavey, who purchased a store built on the site as early as 1816, from a Simeon Chadbourne. The store was enlarged and became a major hub of the sleepy town in the 19th and 20th centuries, but like many such structures, struggled due to changing of shopping habits and rural decline. The building, with its vernacular and Greek Revival lintels, appears vacant today.

Ms. Perkins’ Millinery Shop // c.1890

Buildings of New England2 Comments

This charming one-story shop sits on the Porter-side of Kezar Falls village, a district that spans the Ossipee River between Porter and Parsonsfield, Maine. This shop was built at the end of the 19th century as a millinery shop (womens’ hat store) for Ms. Florence Perkins (1862-1950), who appears to have been unmarried all of her life. Retaining almost all of its original decorative detail, the building has a symmetrically arranged facade with two-sided projecting bays; the upper sash in the facade windows, including that in the entrance door, has a border of small rectangular colored glass panels. The storefront is a rare survivor of this period, with not many other examples in the area.

Old Porter Meetinghouse // 1818

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Welcome to Porter, Maine! The town is located on the Maine/New Hampshire border and was first called Portersfield Plantation. Porter was incorporated in 1807 and named after its first proprietor, Dr. Aaron Porter (1752-1837). The Porter Meetinghouse was built beginning in 1818 and it is said that it was not completely finished until 1824. The original congregation was a Freewill Baptist organization led by Reverend Jeremiah Bullock, and were known locally as “Bullockites“. The structure housed the Baptists and town meetings as needed. The plain vernacular, meetinghouse is typical of many early meetinghouses of the period in rural New England. The inside retains its original character with its space as a single large chamber with a gallery above on three sides. The walls are plaster, much of it original, with trowel marks visible. The main floor is populated with original box pews and a replica pulpit. The structure is a rare survivor!