The Summer in Maine Auction, featuring some of the best that Maine has to offer, is now open for bidding at the South Portland Historical Society’s museum at Bug Light Park. Bids will be accepted every day until the auction closes on the Fourth of July. We hope you’ll come down and check out the […]
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Posted inKennebunk Post
Brick Store Museum hits a home run with historical summer fun
The Kennebunk museum’s summer calendar kicks off with a vintage baseball game in July.
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Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: The Second Advent Chapel at Cash Corner
As early as 1883 and as late as the 1930s, the Advent Chapel was in use at Cash Corner, located at 368-370 Main St., near the corner of Skillings Street. The fire station now covers the site. Back in 2005, I talked with resident Waverly Hammond who remembered peeking through the windows of the chapel […]
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: Clifford and Wilbur Brown and the Brown Ship Chandlery
One of our volunteers, genealogist Jackie Dunham, has recently finished a major research project for the South Portland Historical Society. Jackie spent several months researching the Brown family, for which Brown’s Hill in South Portland is named. She created a family tree for the society, starting with John and Hannah Brown who moved here in […]
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: Asa Littlejohn, a well-known sea captain in Ferry Village
Researching and documenting some of the interesting people of our community’s past is a satisfying endeavor in itself, but we are also sometimes hoping that putting stories out there will help us to find additional information. It is a wonderful day when we hear from a descendant or someone else who has found the story […]
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: Joshua Brackett – Knightville shoemaker, postmaster and Civil War veteran
We were recently visited by South Portland residents Bob and Ann Morrill, who brought in a few treasures to donate to the collections of the South Portland Historical Society. One item was a certificate from the state of Maine, signed by then-Gov. Joshua Chamberlain, testifying that Joshua Brackett had served honorably as a volunteer during […]
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: Gideon Burbank, veteran and longtime resident of the Willard neighborhood
We covered Ezekiel Wescott last week, captain of Company I of the 25th Maine Volunteer Infantry. Let’s take a look this week at local resident Gideon Burbank, who served in Wescott’s company during the Civil War. Gideon Hatch Burbank was born in Hiram, Maine, in 1825 or 1826, the son of Israel and Rhoda Hatch […]
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: Capt. Ezekiel Wescott – and historical society lecture covering the Civil War, May 22
On Wednesday, May 22, at the South Portland Community Center, the South Portland Historical Society will hold a lecture by historian Paul Ledman, author of “A Maine Town Responds: Cape Elizabeth & South Portland in the Civil War.” Ledman will discuss how the Civil War impacted the town of Cape Elizabeth and how its residents […]
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: The Emery family and the mill at Mill Creek
When we looked at the Marean family last week, we noted that, in 1848, Joshua and William Marean had purchased an estimated 80 acres of land in Knightville along with “one half of the grist mill and privilege belonging to said mill.” This is the mill that used to operate at Mill Cove (next to […]
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: Deacon Joshua Marean and the Marean family of Knightville
We’ve been looking at some of the early families who lived along Highland Avenue in the 1800s. Deacon Daniel Anthoine lived near the top of Anthoine Street and his neighbor, John D. Buzzell, lived near the top of Scamman Street, across from where Hinckley Park is today. Let’s take a look this week at Buzzell’s […]