Museum in the Streets
Location: Hallowell Printing The first newspaper published in Kennebec County, the Eastern Star, was printed in Hallowell by Howard S. Robinson on August 4,1794. In 1797 he published the first book of fiction printed in the District of Maine, “Female Friendship, or the Innocent Sufferer: A Moral Lecture”. During the next two decades Hallowell printers Continue Reading
Location: Water Street State Boat landing In the early 1800’s, it was said that if a Hallowell boy hadn’t been to the East or West Indies by the time he was 20, he “didn’t amount to much”. From 1785 to 1875, 229 ships were launched from her shipyards. Hallowell ships carried lumber and other products Continue Reading
Second St. Method of Display: Post Hallowell’s first meeting house was Old South Congregational Church. It was a wooden structure built in 1796 but destroyed by fire in 1878. Lost in the fire was the distinguished bell tower designed by Charles Bulfinch and the organ which had been imported from England. It was rebuilt on Continue Reading
Sign Number:11 Location: front of Hallowell Fire Station Method of Display: Affixed to Building Permits/permissions required, date obtained: City The Town House was built in 1828 and served as municipal offices, school, jail and community center. Sunday School programs were offered here as well as concerts, dances, roller skating and other events. The Hallowell Lyceum, Continue Reading
Sign Number: 10 Location: Union and Second St. Method of Display: Steel post in front Women in 19th Century Hallowell didn’t have the vote or a presence in many of the professions but they did wield power and influence. In 1868 they began to raise funds for the purchase of property and the construction of Continue Reading
Sign Number: 9 Old Hallowell Granite office Location: Union St. in front of old Hallowell Granite office (Brahms/Mount) Union St. Method of Display: affixed to granite post Permits/permissions required, date obtained: Brahms/Mount Hallowell’s high quality white granite was prized at an early date as material for public monuments and statuary and orders were filled for Continue Reading
MUSEUM IN THE STREETS Sign Number: 1 Location: Waterfront Park The rapids in Augusta that mark the “head of tide” made Hallowell the last port on the Kennebec able to accommodate larger ocean-going ships. By 1810 thirteen major wharves lined the riverbank, some extending more than 50 feet out into the river. Hallowell fast Continue Reading
MUSEUM IN THE STREETS Sign Number: 2 Location: Valle Real Estate Building Winthrop and Water St. James Ingraham’s residence and grocery store occupied this site in the early 1800’s. It was a favorite gathering spot for the men in town and famous for its stock of rum and fine wines. Both the home and Continue Reading
Second and Lincoln Sts Dr.Benjamin Page, one of the first physicians to practice medicine in Hallowell, lived here. Dr. Page was an associate of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan who followed discoveries in science and medicine. Dr. Vaughan learned of the successful experiments of London surgeon Dr. Edward Jenner in developing a vaccine against smallpox. In 1800, Continue Reading
Ebenezer Dole House Second and Lincoln Sts. Ebenezer Dole, his brother Daniel and others, met here on November 18, 1833 and formed the first anti-slavery society in Maine known as The Hallowell Anti-Slavery Society. A year earlier Dole contacted William Lloyd Garrison, publisher of the Boston abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and invited him to speak at Continue Reading
