The Rural Meeting House in Maine - "The Plight and Future of the Community Soul"

Porter Meeting House

    There will be a presentation at History House on Saturday, May 17, 2014 after our regular meeting at 1:00 pm by Chris Closs, an adviser for Maine Preservation and Greater Portland Landmarks on the role of the meeting house in rural culture. He will talk about meeting houses such as ours in terms of challenges and opportunities and what we can and should do to preserve them.

    The historical society has several very interesting presentations this year so be sure to check out the schedule of events in the page tabs above.

Parsonsfield Town House

    Two of those events will center around our two meeting houses.

Saturday, August 16 1:00 - 3:00 pm at the Parsonsfield Town House - Middle Road Village

Grave stone expert, Jessica Felix, will talk about the proper way to care for and preserve grave stones and then lead a walk through the cemetery.

Sunday, August 31 (Watch this blog for details)

Open House at the Porter Meeting House

   Help keep our local history alive by attending our events and volunteering even a few hours to our efforts.  We can only continue with your support!

 

The Bandstand on Garner Island

   If you look west up the river from the bridge in Kezar Fall Village you can’t miss seeing the little island with the charming cottage that is located close to the bridge. It is reached from Elm Street by a driveway to a small access bridge.

    In the 1880’s the island, owned by Allen Garner, was used as a park. For a few years there was a small bandstand on the island that was reached by a footbridge from the middle of the old Kezar Falls covered bridge.

   

The Kezar Falls Cornet Band at the island bandstand about 1882

L-R: Albion Fox, Jake Libby, Sydney Stacy, Frank Shaw, Al Stone, Clint Stone, Charles O. Stacy, R. Fulton Wormwood, Walter Newbegin, Walter Fowler, unidentified, and John Ridlon.

First Meeting of the Season...

Log jam on the Ossipee River in Kezar Falls, 1918

   Before your schedule gets all jammed up, make a note that the first meeting of the historical society is Saturday, April 26 at 1 pm at the Porter Town Hall.  A quorum is needed to elect officers so please try to attend.

   You can access the full scedule of meetings, open houses and fund raising events in the page links above.  There are a lot of great events planned this year so hope to see you there!

Porter Village...

  

    This stately house, shown here in a circa 1890 tintype, is located across from the present day post office at the intersection of Short Street and Route 25 (Ossipee Trail) in Porter Village. It was once a wayside inn with a public hall/ballroom on the top floor. It is often called the William Stanley House as identified on the 1856 map. Also, it was known as the Hadlock House for the family that owned it in the 1920’s & 30’s. However, the house is much older than we originally thought.

   With extensive research, Sandy Howe found that as early as 1801 James Coffin, Esq. held a deed for this location, including a dwelling house, on the county road and within lots #1 and #2 in Range A. So, the history relating to town meetings that were held at his home from 1807 – 1812 fit the use of the 3rd floor.

   Coffin sold it to William Towle, Sr. in 1809 and bought it back in 1823. His widow and children continued to live there until 1834. It was then sold to John S. Wedgwood and then Meshach Pike and pieces of the original 100 acre lot were sold off. When Meshach sold it to William Stanley in 1854 it contained only about 1 acre of land with the homestead.

    There were other owners before the Hadlocks. Robert MacDonald purchased it from the Hadlocks about 1948 and sold to it Marcel Gagnon in 1988. It sold again to the Whittemore family about 2011. The barn and out-buildings have been gone for many years.

A current view of the house.

   The historical society's opening meeting for the 2014 season is April 26 at 1 pm at the Town Office in Porter.  Mark your calendar and try to make this the year you make local history matter in your life!  All help, large or small, can make a difference in keeping our local history alive.

Kezar Falls VIllage...

 The charming brick house on Federal Road was built by Elias Newbegin in 1840 and is one of the oldest houses still standing in Kezar Falls Village. The photograph on the right shows how it looked in 1907.

    Thomas E. Fox and his wife Martha (Gerrish) Fox left their 200 acre farm on Kezar Mountain Road and moved to this house. Herman, one their four children, was born here in 1871. Herman married twice. He and his second wife, Florence had three daughters, Theda and twins Manda and Beatrice.

Today the Fox house has been changed back to a

 single dwelling and the barn is gone.  It has had

 several owner/occupants in recent years. 

    The house remained in the family occupied by his widow Florence and unmarried daughter Manda until after Florence’s death in 1978. The house finally passed out of the family in 1979 when it was purchased by Richard and Gay Winkler. 

    They turned it into an apartment with office space in the front. Manda Fox was an active member of the Parsonsfield-Porter Historical Society. She died in 1987. Manda’s twin sister, Beatrice (Fox) Peterson, moved away and just recently died (3/3/2014) at the age of 104. 

   Next month a new season at the historical society begins! Stay tuned for this years schedule updates and please consider ways you might join in the conservation/exhibition efforts. 

Local History Matters!