Current and Past Exhibits

Current Exhibits

A Look Back: 150 Years of Life in the Boothbay Region

Is it possible to fit 150 years of history into one room? Well, our Exhibit Committee has given it a darn good try! Our current exhibit, A Look Back: 150 Years of Life in the Boothbay Region, takes Elizabeth Freeman Reed’s birth in 1874 as a jumping off point to tell the history of the Boothbay region over the last century and a half.

The exhibit includes biographical information on Captain Freeman K. Reed who was in the business of transporting ice and who built the Oak Street house for his family in 1873.  There is a display exploring Elizabeth’s involvement in the women’s social and activist group, using newly cataloged records in the Monday Club Collection. The “Now and Then” Board compares photographs of historic buildings to their modern counterparts.

Also included are photos and stories on historic mills, the ice industry, lobstering, and other industries that helped define and support the growth of our area. From books to branding irons, paintings to plummets, signs to shoes, this exhibit has something for everyone.

Past Exhibits

Captains and Vessels of the Boothbay Region 1800 to 1921

This exhibit explores the stories and histories of Boothbay’s captains and of the vessels built in the Boothbay region during America’s golden age of sail.

The Boothbay region has been famous for boatbuilding for over 200 years.   The historical society has found and named 546 vessels built in the Boothbay region in the 19th and early 20th centuries.   What did they look like?  Who built them?  Who were their captains?  Where did they go?  What did they haul?  Using artifacts including diaries, ships logs, paintings, blueprints, and half-models, as well as a slide show of photographs of captains and vessels with exciting stories of their adventures at sea, the new exhibit at the Boothbay Region Historical Society answers many of these questions.

“Captains and Vessels of the Boothbay Region 1800 to 1921” will run through the end of the year.

Ranco Basketmakers

In the March e-newsletter we ran a short 2005 article by Barbara Rumsey about the Indian basket sellers, the Sockabasins, who used to come summers to the east side of Boothbay Harbor in the 1910s and 1920s. Also mentioned were the Rancos who came to the Harbor’s west side and Squirrel Island from c. 1900 to at least the 1970s. I mentioned we had one basket made by them and given to us by Chetley Rittall, who was friendly with them.

In response to that article, Jean Chenoweth, now of Eustis, offered us a basket obtained from Indians who went door to door selling them in the 1940s. No doubt those were the Rancos since Jean lived at West Harbor. Next Alfred Pinkham of the west coast wrote to say his grandfather Douglass Pinkham was superintendent on Squirrel. A Squirrel history shows him in that position from 1937 to 1943 and 1961 to 1966. Alfred also offered us Ranco baskets, a pack basket and a wheel basket as Squirrel Islanders used for purchases when shopping in the Harbor. The wheel basket was developed by John Ranco with Squirrel Islander Henry Faxon some time after 1906. On top of that, Jean knew Dougie Pinkham as a near neighbor at West Harbor! We are so grateful for the generosity of Alfred and Jean and look forward to showing off the baskets in this exhibit.

Read Barbara Rumsey’s article in the Boothbay Register about the exhibit here.

What else is going on? Visit our Events Page, click here.

2019/20: Boothbay Uniforms

Come see Harry Pinkham’s community band uniform, Olive McKay Wright’s nursing school cape from St. Andrews Hospital in the 1930s, and an early Knights of Pythias uniform worn by Charles Thomas Orne of West Boothbay Harbor.

June 2019: Boothbay-Built Family Fishing Fleets photography exhibit

The Bertha D. Nickerson

This photography exhibit complements the Windjammer celebration.  Included are two circa 1900 Boothbay-built family fishing fleets, inlcuding Nickerson and Nunan family schooners built by the Adams yard and the Hodgdon yard.

November 2018 – June 2019: 100th Anniversary of Armistice Day Commemorated

On November 11, 1918, an armistice was signed by France and Germany ending World War I. Raymond Pennoyer’s World War I army uniform, as well as documents about Harriet Delamere’s years nursing the wounded in France, are on display to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

Both Raymond Pennoyer and Harriet Delamere were awarded medals for their service during the war. Harriet was awarded the Victory Medal Service Ribbon with two bronze stars for her participation in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives. Raymond received the Purple Heart for his actions at the Battle of Argonne.

World War I, or the Great War, was thought to be the war that ended all war. Armistice Day was, and still is, celebrated in many countries world-wide. After World War II ended, Armistice Day in the United States was renamed Veterans Day.

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Open All Year

  • Thu-Sat: 10am-2pm

Admission is free.

 

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Contact Us:

P.O.Box 272
72 Oak Street
Boothbay Harbor,
Maine 04538
Phone: (207)633-0820
Email: info@boothbayhistorical.org