I refer with sadness to the closing of 19th Century Willowbrook Village. For 47 years, Willowbrook has shown adults and children what life was like a century or more ago. I have been there dozens of times. I took my children there when it first opened. I have taken many others to Willowbrook since my retirement. All have been wide-eyed with wonder. The impact Willowbrook has had on generations of children makes its closing even more difficult to bear.

To me, the end of Willowbrook is a tragedy, not just for Maine but for all of America. There are only a few museums such as Willowbrook in the United States. Donald King created something breathtaking. It should have lasted for hundreds of years. With its closing, generations to come will never have the thrill of visiting Newfield and experiencing what life was like in rural America once upon a time.

The Sanford-Springvale Historical Society’s recent purchase of the Edmund E. Goodwin house will enable it to accept some of Willowbrook’s treasures. The society will do its best to preserve them and make them accessible to the public as Donald King would have wished.

Harland Eastman
President, Sanford-Springvale
Historical Society