WESTBROOK – Dozens of supporters were on hand Wednesday evening for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new home of the Westbrook Historical Society. The society, founded in 1976, has moved twice before Wednesday’s opening at the Fred C. Wescott Building on Bridge Street.

Hundreds of artifacts of the city’s history were on display, from clothing to dishes to scrapbooks to photos to volumes of old records.

“I think it’s wonderful,” said Ellie Saunders, one of the society’s founders and oldest members. “I’m awfully pleased. We all are.”

The society will be open to the public on Tuesdays and Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to noon. Society President Mike Sanphy said he hopes to expand those hours once the society can arrange for more volunteers to man it while the public visits.

Mayor Colleen Hilton hands a pair of scissors to Ellie Saunders, 91, a founding member of the Westbrook Historical Society, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday at the society’s new home in the Fred C. Wescott Building. The society recently completed a move from the second floor of the American Legion building on the edge of Riverbank Park. (Staff Photo by Sean Murphy)
City Councilor John O’Hara, center, holds up an iron nail he removed from the DeWolfe family home just before it was torn down to make way for the new Westbrook Middle School. O’Hara presented two of the nails as a gift to the Westbrook Historical Society at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday at the society’s new home in the Fred C. Wescott Building. Looking on are Society President and fellow Councilor Mike Sanphy, left, and Mayor Colleen Hilton. (Staff photo by Sean Murphy)
Ellie Saunders, 91, right, hands a bottle of “Presumpscott Champagne,” or bottled water from the Presumpscott River, to Westbrook Historical Society President Mike Sanphy during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday at the society’s new home in the Fred C. Wescott Building. Saunders is one of the founding members of the society, and cut the ribbon herself.