The Freeport Historical Society is again offering Summer Tours of the Historic Pettengill Farmhouse and grounds as a way for the public to learn more about this remarkable homestead. These tours offer a rare opportunity to view and learn about the house, which is generally open only once a year, on Pettengill Farm Day. Join a docent as they describe the history of the farm and saltbox, built about 1800 and sustained over generations without the modern conveniences of central heating, running water, or electricity. The house resides on 140 acres that supported a saltwater farm and dairy, most recently by Mildred Pettengill and her brother Frank.
Participants can sign-up for a 90 min tour of the farm and house, which includes a viewing of the rare sgraffiti wall etchings of ships and marine life. The scheduled tours are as follows:
Wed June 26 at 1:00 PM
Thurs July 18 at 9:00 AM
Tues Aug 13 at 5:00 PM
Fri Sept 13 at 11:00 AM
Cost is $12 per person for the general public and $10 for FHS members.
Details:
Participants must register at least 24 hours in advance since at least 4 people (maximum 10) are required for the tour to occur. (Go to freeporthistoricalsociety.org or call 865-3170.) If the tour needs to be rescheduled due to rain (the event will feature a walk around the grounds) or because of too few participants, those signed up will be rescheduled to another date or their money refunded.
Attendees meet at the gate entrance at the end of Pettengill Road, and we will carpool to the site. Spontaneous participants are welcome to join in at the start location, but they should first confirm that the tour is happening. Please wear appropriate footwear for walking on uneven surfaces and bring along bug spray. If walking is difficult, participants can choose to remain near or in the house.
Tours are also available on request with a minimum of 4 participants. Contact Jesse at info@freeporthistoricalsociety.com or 865-3170 to schedule a time.
Announcing Our 2019 Gala Auction Items!
Eighth Annual Harraseeket Harborside Gala
Saturday, June 22nd at 6:00 PM
Strouts Point Wharf Co., South Freeport
Our 2019 Gala Auction items might just be our best yet!
Purchase tickets on Eventbrite to attend our 8th Annual Harborside Gala and get the chance to bid on these fabulous auction items:
- Rocking chair by Thomas Moser
- Cocktails & dinner for six aboard the Bolero
- Five works of art created by local artists and lessons with the artists themselves
- An oyster farm tour for six from Love Point Oysters
- Two Adirondacks and a table set from LL Bean
- One week stay private stay at a Sugarloaf condo
- Weekend stay for two at Grants Camps on Kennebago Lake
Even if you are unable to make it to the event, you can still enter to win our raffle item–a private helicopter ride for three to Halfway Rock!
Located halfway between Cape Elizabeth and Cape Small, Halfway Rock offers breathtaking sea views and is home to a historic lighthouse that has been meticulously restored to the 1950s era. Pack a picnic lunch and plan to spend an hour and a half exploring the lighthouse and enjoying the sunshine and views at this unique Maine landmark.
For $50 you can enter the raffle for your chance to win this amazing experience.
Purchase your raffle tickets online now!
If you are attending the Gala, you can pick up your raffle tickets at the Gala day-of. The winner will be announced at the event. For those unable to make it to the Gala, we will mail raffle tickets to the shipping address provided and notify the winner via email.
Raffle tickets can also be purchased over the phone with a credit card at (207)865-3170 or in person at Harrington House on Main Street with cash, check, or credit card until Friday, June 21st.
Join us for the 8th Annual Harraseeket Harborside Gala!
Strouts Point Wharf Company, South Freeport
Saturday, June 22nd at 6:00 PM
This spirited celebration of Freeport History will include live music, live and silent auctions, local beer, spirits, lobster rolls, oysters, and other local delicacies!
Purchase your tickets
$60 per ticket
or
Show your increased level of commitment to FHS by serving as a Steward of the Gala. For $250 you get two tickets to the Gala, four drink tickets, and special recognition in the Gala program. Stewards are encouraged to send checks directly to FHS to avoid processing fees.
Purchase your tickets online at Eventbrite.
NEW EXHIBIT at Freeport Historical Society
The Mast Landing: Industry, Commerce, and Its People, 1720s-1920
Co-Curated by Holly Hurd and David Coffin
Opening Reception May 23 at 5:00 – 7:00 PM
Exhibit opening is free and open to the public
May 24 – Dec 20, 2019, Tues- Fri 10:00-5:00 PM
Admission is $3 per person, 12 and under free
Our next exhibit focuses on Mast Landing, the area where large pine logs destined to become ship masts were hauled and loaded into the Harraseeket River during the 18th century. Abner and David Dennison moved to town in 1757 and soon after built a sawmill and vessel at the landing. This industrial activity marked the beginning of growth toward a village that would thrive, prosper, and decline as new modes of transportation changed the face of commerce. David Coffin is co-curating the exhibit, which will include years of work on the historic Mast Landing village as well as new information about the people who lived and worked there.
Annual Meeting of the Membership
Honored Speaker: Earle Shettleworth Jr.
Saturday, April 27th at 4:00 pm
Freeport Community Services: 53 Depot Street
Please join us for a brief business meeting to celebrate our 50th Anniversary, elect trustees, and present annual awards.
The meeting will be followed by “Roadside Freeport,” from Maine State Historian and son of a Freeport shop owner, Earle Shettleworth Jr.
Refreshments will be served before the meeting.
As automobile tourism expanded after World War I, overnight cabins, restaurants, and souvenir shops developed along Maine’s Route I. Beginning in the mid-1920s, Freeport experienced a proliferation of tourist cabins on two sections of Route I, the Yarmouth Road to south of the village and the Brunswick Road to the north. These cabins included the Dutch Village Motor Court, Half Moon Cabins, Maine Idyll Cabins, Roseland Cabins, Sims Overnight Camps, and the Wayside Inn. Of these, only the Maine Idyll remains in business today. In the 1950s motels such as the Casco Bay and the Eagle began to spell the end of the motor courts.
Maine State Historian Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. will illustrate his lecture on Roadside Freeport with period post cards and advertising brochures.
Book Launch: Reflections on 300 years of the Scots Irish in Maine, 1718-2018
Reflections on 300 years of the Scots Irish in Maine, 1718-2018
Thursday, April 11, 2019, 7:00 PM
at Freeport Community Library
So you think you know the History of New England Settlement? Pilgrims, Puritans, and … Scots-Irish? In fact, Scots from the northern region of Ireland were some of the earliest settlers to coastal Maine beginning three centuries ago. According to surveyor-historian John Mann, as many as half of the earliest pioneers of Freeport, Brunswick, and surrounds were of Scots-Irish ancestry. If your roots are deep here, or if you are interested in a relatively unknown history of the area, you won’t want to miss this event!
Last August, in commemoration of the 1718 migration, the Maine Ulster Scots Project hosted a conference at Bowdoin College that included the presentation of papers– academic, poetic, and personal. These papers from 19 different authors have been published together and “reflect deeper stories that remain embedded in colonial identity and conflict.” The book is offered as an exploration of “historical narratives through the lens of migration from Ulster and the way the frontier experience shaped the people who invented a nation.” Please join us in celebrating the publication of this new book with guest speakers:
William Roulston, Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast, Northern Ireland
John T. Mann, President Emeritus of Maine Ulster Scots Project
Rebecca J. Graham, President Maine Ulster Scots Project
This event is co-sponsored by the Maine Ulster Scots Project, the Saint Andrews Society of Maine, the Ulster-Scots Agency, Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Freeport Historical Society.
50 Years of Preservation, Education and Community
2019 is the 50th Anniversary of Freeport Historical Society
Join us Friday, January 25 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at the Harrington House to recognize the anniversary date of our incorporation! Visit with members, trustees, staff, and many others from the past who have made FHS the successful, vibrant organization that is it today – including some special friends who signed on in 1969 as original Corporators and Charter Members. Stop in for a champagne toast, tasty snacks, a special anniversary cake. Remarks and remembrances at 6:00 PM.
Writing Contest
Freeport Historical Society announces their 2nd Annual Writing Contest from Oct 1-Dec 14, 2018. The contest is associated with our exhibit Blacksmiths and Storekeepers: Freeport Village, Crossroads of Change, 1770-1920 and is open to schoolchildren and adults in Maine who visit the exhibit. It will be judged by local writers and teachers and features historical prizes for winners in three categories. Visit www.freeporthistoricalsociety.org for details.
Looking For Volunteers
The Freeport Historical Society is looking for volunteers. Below is a list of projects we could use assistance with. Please respond to info@freeporthistoricalsociety.org with interest.
- Index the Six Town Times and Freeport Sentinel Newspapers
A newspaper published weekly from 1892-1916, the Six Town Times reported on news pertaining to and relevant for the six towns of ancient North Yarmouth: Freeport, Cumberland, Yarmouth, North Yarmouth, Pownal, and Harpswell.
Freeport Historical Society has a collection of bound volumes of the Six Town Times covering most of the years it was published. A volunteer indexed the years 1893-1900, and we need to extend her index to include the years from 1901-1916. Several issues are also digitized online, so some of the work could be done from a home computer.
We also have several issues of the Freeport Sentinel from 1889-1892 to be indexed.
This project would be interesting for anyone who likes history as it requires reading through the old newspapers and recording names, places, and important topics and organizing them by category.
- Watermark and Resize Digitized Photographs- compile information for adding to website
- Digitize Collection Finding Aids, Cemetery Records, and Town Records recently copied
- Expand Inventory of Small Collections and Digitize
Recent Acquisition
Welcoming our new friends into the collection. These newly acquired William Matthew Prior pieces depict the Honorable Rufus Soule and his first wife Susan Mitchell Soule. Rufus was one of the most eminent shipbuilders in Maine having constructed at least 85 vessels at Porter’s Landing during his career. We are thrilled to have the two back in Freeport. Now on view at FHS. 
