SOUTH WINDHAM – On a cold, wet, blustery October day last week, two men, a woman and her dog, Romeo, were pulling nails and ripping off rotted boards from a century-old building in the Little Falls section of Gorham.

The volunteers were “saving” the South Windham Public Library, which had recently closed after 70 years of service. This little building was about to be reborn and would once again welcome children and adults, too.

The building had its origins as a (fire) hose drying building for the South Windham Fire Department, and after serving as a public library for generations of readers, it would find a new home as part of the Village Green, a project being developed by Windham Historical Society. The Village Green will be a living history park located on the grounds of the Historical Society in Windham Center.

This old library is the first of several historic structures to be moved to the site. The trip across the bridge in Little Falls and along Route 202 to the field in Windham Center, went very smoothly with a lot of onlookers along the way. And it was really a high point for the historical society which started talking about and planning a history park two years ago.

But why a history park?

The population of Windham has nearly tripled since the historical society was organized in 1967. As part of its mission to provide educational outreach, all of Windham’s third graders are provided a day-long “history tour” each year by Society member Walter Lunt, a retired teacher. This bus trip is preceded by his visit to each classroom, explaining the sites that will be visited and providing a mini-history lesson.

For many years, Society members have searched for a way to provide more hands-on opportunities for students to learn about their past. As traditional farms (and farmland) have been replaced by housing developments, and villages have given way to commercial and retail entities, it might seem that the past is disappearing – but the historical society’s planned Village Green will change that.

In addition to providing a place where young people can visit the past, the creation of the Village Green will protect some of Windham’s historic structures, and they will be preserved – another part of the historical society’s mission.

The society owns and maintains three of the oldest buildings in town: the circa 1833 brick town house which serves as the headquarters and research center; the circa 1820 Old Grocery Museum, originally a cobbler shop, tailor shop and grain/grocery store, and the first library in Windham Center, more than a century old.

A couple of years ago, society meetings were spent discussing the need for more space for the growing attendance at its many programs and presentations. At the same time, it was painfully obvious that more space was needed for the many items being donated – items that needed to be preserved and stored properly for the interest and education of future generations. Equipment and tools from Windham’s agrarian past were accumulating in barns and sheds when they needed to be safely cared for and displayed to the public. As properties were sold, the new homeowners didn’t want the “clutter” of old hay rakes and other unused farm equipment. In a situation like this, the first call is often to the historical society.

In the fall of 2010, the owner of the abutting property, decided to sell. The parcel included a lovely historic old home, barn, garage and outbuildings and 2.5 acres of fields. The Society acted quickly and contacted all members, the public and anyone remotely connected with Windham, including high school alumni! In a matter of a few weeks, funds were raised for the down payment –and in October that year, Village Green was born. And Windham Historical Society began to plan for the future.

Plans are to build or move and renovate a barn, a blacksmith shop (which will showcase the blacksmithing skills of one of the society members), a one-room schoolhouse, and other buildings typical of the old-time village. The recently moved South Windham Public Library is the third building on-site, joining the current headquarters, formerly the “town hall” and the Windham Center Library.

The Society is a non-profit organization, operated completely by an all-volunteer staff and dependent solely on donations, dues and some retail sales of items like books, maps and other memorabilia.

A fund-raising group is searching out grant sources and ways to fund the many parts of creating a history park. A five-year plan developed shortly after the acquisition of the former Reeves property included paying off the mortgage in five years with the house being rented and the Society providing a $650 a month payment on principal. So far, the society is meeting that goal, thanks to the generosity of some members and society supporters.

The acquisition of the South Windham Public Library is the first step toward a project that will benefit the whole town as well as visitors. At Society meetings now, people talk about the day when Windham school children won’t have to travel out of town to visit a historic site – they can visit the Village Green, only steps away from their technology-ruled world.

Members of the Windham Historical Society are committed to this project. Walter Lunt, the retired teacher who provides volunteer history bus trips each year explains:

“I’m involved with Village Green because I hope it will contribute to the sense of place I felt while growing up in Windham. I work with nearly 200 third graders on behalf of the (Windham) Historical Society because I truly believe that ties with the past, both intellectual and emotional, create inseparable bonds with the present, and a desire to carry on that heritage into the future.”

Fundraising will continue this fall. On Election Day, the annual bake sale will be held at the high school and on Nov. 10-11, a wonderfully old-fashioned Christmas Fair – to date, the biggest fundraiser, will be held at headquarters. Hundreds of items made from wood, textiles and other materials will be offered – and all handmade by Society members!

For decades, Windham Historical Society has maintained and preserved three of the town’s most historically valuable buildings. In addition to the development of a history park, monthly public programs are scheduled through the next 12 months; genealogy research is continually being done and community outreach includes speaking engagements and presentations to out-of-town organizations.

For more information about the Village Green and Windham Historical Society, the headquarters/museum will be open through November on Thursday and Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon. The public is welcome to stop in, look around and ask questions. The website is www.windhamhistorical.org or via email, info@windhamhistorical.org.

Towing the South Windham Public Library, which was located beside the Presumpscot River in the Little Falls section of Gorham since 1934, Cumberland-based Copp Movers begins a several-mile journey last Thursday that ended at the Windham Historical Society’s Village Green near the intersection of Route 202 and Windham Center Road. The one-room library was closed in August due to a lack of patrons. The historical society worked with the towns of Windham and Gorham, which jointly owned the building. It is the first historic structure to be installed at the Village Green, which Society members hope to fill with similarly important structures.