When the house behind Corsetti’s store in Windham Center burned, it was a shock to the community. This was one of the oldest houses in Windham, and a landmark in Windham Center. The house is gone now, but the history remains.

The “corner” once included Hawkes store, the first library, a cobbler shop, post office, the site of the first phone office and a tavern where tired horses – and their owners – could rest overnight, on their way to Portland or beyond.

The property known as “the tavern,” right beside Corsetti’s, was owned by Samuel Hanson in 1827. Maine had not been a state but for a few years when Hanson sold the property to John Reed. Reed’s wife was a Hodgdon, daughter of Ephraim, who lived at the Center.

In fact, Ephraim sold the town of Windham the lot where the original town house was built. Today it’s the historical society. In 1832, Hodgdon accepted $15 for the lot.

Reed moved to Woodfords and sold the tavern and farm to Enoch Gammon who never lived here but sold the property to Benjamin Goodridge. Goodridge sold it to Edmund Boody in 1837.

Boody and his son-in-law George Harding ran the tavern and had a blacksmith shop. When Harding died, his widow married Jason Webb who also operated the tavern. They sold to Samuel Freeman of Gorham.

Freeman built a new house on the same lot in 1840 and transferred it to his son Samuel Freeman Jr. in 1841. The son went to California and when he returned, he sold the house and land to John Tukey Fellows, who lived in Windham Center. Fellows bought 80 acres of land in 1865, for $4,000. On an 1871 map, Fellows name indicates he continued to own the property until the Hawkes family (who owned the grocery store) bought the old house in the early 1900s.

The store has changed ownership several times and was rebuilt, following a devastating fire. The former tavern is privately owned; the old library building is now owned by the Windham Historical Society and has been moved. The former cobbler shop (and grain store) is also now property of the Society.

The old Fellows-Hawkes homestead was destroyed by fire and taken down in 2014.

Once an IGA store, Hawkes Store “ruled” the corner. Across the street, the former library served the area.This stately old home, built in 1840, was home to many villagers until it fell to arson and was taken down in 2014.