Sign Number: 18
Location: Key Bank Building
Method of Display: Attached to Building

Sign18Hallowell’s early settlers brought their passion for education to their new home. The first town meeting in 1771 voted funds for public schools. A private school, The Hallowell Academy, founded in 1795, offered a top rate classical curriculum with a program in advanced mathematics and navigation for boys wishing to pursue careers at sea. Ezekiel Goodale opened “The Hallowell Bookstore – Sign of the Bible” in 1802, the first bookstore east of Portland. In 1815 it moved to No. 1 Kennebec Row, the brick building with the granite flood marker at the corner of Water and Wharf streets. By 1820 five major bookstores lined Water Street and made Hallowell a key component of the “Boston Book Trade” – supplying textbooks to schoolmasters and reading material of all kinds to the general public.

Importance de l’instruction

Les premiers colons de Hallowell transmirent leur goût des études à leur nouvelle patrie. En 1771 le premier conseil municipal appropria des fonds pour les écoles publiques. Un lycée privé fondé en 1795, Hallowell Academy, offrait un excellent programme classique ainsi que des cours de mathématiques avancées et de navigation pour les garçons se destinant à la marine. Ezekiel Goodale ouvrit en 1802 la première librairie à l’est de Portland, The Hallowell Bookstore-Sign of the Bible. En 1815 elle déménagea au No. 1 du Kennebec Row, dans le bâtiment en briques au coin des rues Water et Wharf qui porte la marque en granit du niveau des inondations. En 1820 cinq librairies importantes se trouvaient dans Water Street et firent jouer à Hallowell un rôle clé dans le marché du livre de Boston en fournissant des manuels scolaires aux écoles et toutes sortes de livres au grand public.

Photograph(s)/illustration(s):

S18-01 – “Hallowell Academy”
[no translation needed]
Credit – Hubbard Free Library – Photographer unknown

S18-02 – “Books published in Hallowell”
Livres publiés à Hallowell
Credit – Hubbard Free Library – Harold Strout

Sponsor Copy

The Hallowell Museum in the Streets is a project of Row House Inc. and the Hallowell Area Board of Trade, made possible by Patron Grants from Gardiner Savings Bank of Maine, Mattson Development, LLC and The Wolfington Auto Group.
The project was underwritten by Century 21 Alliance.
Sign Sponsor – MaxMedia

A Museum Tour Guide is available at the Hallowell City Hall, Hubbard Free Library and at many city merchants. The Guide and links to more information about Hallowell are available online at www. hallowell.org