CASCO – In Casco on July 9, history will not only be retold, but it will be made as well.
The Raymond-Casco Historical Society will be celebrating its 40th anniversary with museum tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. And the highlight of the day will be the unveiling of a new book, “Images of America: Raymond and Casco,” which details the pictorial history of the two towns and was written by two local women, Pam Grant and Betty Glassford.
While they are two separate communities now, Raymond and Casco were once conjoined as Raymondtown. Around 1770, the area east of Sebago Lake was settled by ancestors of men who fought against the French and Indian raiders who were attacking the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1690s.
Joseph Dingley, who settled South Casco, and other early settlers carved out a life from the thick forest and animal-invested wilderness east of Sebago Lake. Their lineage survives today and will be celebrated this Saturday at the anniversary event.
For the last three years, the Society has met in a bright, well-built red barn on Route 302 in Casco. The barn has become a landmark of sorts due to a massive mural painted by Thomas Merriam featuring Society founder Ernest Knight of Raymond on his trademark penny farthing bicycle flanked by painted scenes of the area.
Without Knight, who appears in the center of the mural, Saturday’s events would not have been possible since the Society revolved around his interest in local history. “He devoted every minute and did everything he could do to get a Society started,” founding member Betty McDermott said.
According to McDermott, from the early days after Knight founded the group in 1971, artifacts and archives had to be stored in members’ basements and attics since the Society didn’t have its own space. Local libraries and town halls served as meeting places for membership.
However, the Society’s luck changed three years ago when Casco residents Skip and Zeena Watkins deeded their barn to the Society. With their own place to meet and plenty of storage for items large and small, the society is now up to 65 members and can offer tours and research capabilities to the public.
McDermott said Knight passed away at the age of 101 in 2007, the year before the Society opened its museum on the Watkins property on Route 302. McDermott said Knight would have been proud to attend the 40th anniversary celebration, especially since it will be held on Society property. His son, Paul Knight, will attend in his place, she said.
“He’d be thrilled. That was his thing. He had us all searching for a place for the museum. We had things in boxes everywhere,” McDermott said.
On July 9, the Society will be open for guided tours of the museum, agricultural barn and vintage car collection owned by Skip Watkins. Hamburgers, hot dogs, pies, cupcakes and beverages will also be offered, as well as photo opportunities with a vintage carriage.
The highlight of the day will be the official release of the new book, written by Grant and Glassford, both Society members and Casco natives.
The book took a year and a half to produce and chronicles the history of the two towns through old photographs contained in the museum’s collection. The authors will be signing copies of the new book.
“This book is about the people who built Raymond and Casco,” said Glassford. “I just think that we need to tell about the people that began our town, the people who worked to make Raymond and Casco what it is today.”
Grant, who did much of the caption writing, said there were 220 photographs used in the book. The two women, who are fifth cousins, went to the Maine State Library to do much of their research. Other towns in the area already have their own editions in the Images of America series, so Raymond and Casco’s book is long overdue, the two authors say.
“I just love it,” Grant said. “The towns go together, and I’m just so glad it’s been done.”
Raymond-Casco Historical Society members, from left, Wayne
Comments are no longer available on this story