Life in South Berwick, Maine
[ November 19, 2009; 7:30 pm; ] In honor of the bicentennial of the birth of the 16th president, a local historian will examine Abraham Lincoln’s overnight visit to Dover, New Hampshire, in 1860. The free lecture by Brad Fletcher is sponsored by the Old Berwick Historical Society.
The program will be held at Berwick Academy’s Jeppesen Science Center on Academy Street at [...]
[ October 15, 2009; 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm. ]
Historic New England presents a walking tour of the Hamilton House grounds and surrounding neighborhood on Thursday, Oct 15 at 4:30 p.m. Stroll through Oldfields, the oldest part of South Berwick and home to the Hamilton House built circa 1785. Site manager Peggy Wishart will lead the tour. “We’ll try to imagine the landscape as [...]
[ October 22, 2009; 7:30 pm; ] Author William O. Thomson of Kennebunk will speak at the Old Berwick Historical Society’s program, “Coastal Ghosts, Lighthouses, Legends and Hauntings” on Thursday, October 22, at 7:30 pm at Berwick Academy.
Legends about strange occurrences and ghostly apparitions along the coast of New England will be the subject of a talk sponsored by the Old Berwick [...]
[ September 24, 2009; 7:30 pm; ] Maps, disputes and boundary issues will be the subject of an illustrated talk sponsored by the Old Berwick Historical Society on Thursday, September 24.
Matthew H. Edney, a professor of cartography at the University of Southern Maine and an internationally renowned expert on map history, will present the lecture at 7:30 pm in the Jeppesen Science [...]
[ September 15, 2009; 6:00 pm; ] The South Berwick house that contains the Berwick Estates assisted living facility on Portland Street was built about 1820 by one of Maine’s first Congressmen, William Burleigh (1785-1827). The Burleigh house is one of about 100 properties slated to be part of a new district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A public [...]
[ September 3, 2009; 5:30 pm; ] Historic New England presents a free illustrated lecture by University of Southern Maine Professor Elizabeth Bischof on Thursday, September 3 at 5:30 p.m. in the Hamilton House garden cottage.
Dr. Bischof will talk about “Writing Friendships and the Founding of the Women’s Rest Tour Association of Boston,” an organization founded by two women, a poet and [...]
Fancy sheep known as the Berwick Flock in the early 1900s appear in one of 14 historic photographs featured in a new 2010 calendar published by the Old Berwick Historical Society. It sells for $12 at South Berwick Pharmacy and the Counting House Museum.
An old fire truck, the South Berwick town hall when it used [...]
[ July 18, 2009; 10:00 am to 11:30 am. September 19, 2009; 10:00 am to 11:30 am. ] The Way They Were Tour Year of the Kitchen Program*
Saturdays, July 18 and September 19, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Hamilton House, South Berwick, Me.
207-384-2454
Admission: $8 Historic New England members, $12 nonmembers
Please note: Registration required
Go behind-the-scenes on a special tour focusing on the lives of early twentieth-century servants. Hear about the daily routines of domestics, groundskeepers, and [...]
Elaine Pelletier Holland of Rochester, NH, and Norman J. Pelletier of Gorham, ME, contributed their father’s war correspondence, journal and other memorabilia. Two other relatives, Lloyd Pelletier of York and Theresa Wilkinson of South Berwick, gave copies of their extensive family genealogy and family photos.
Items from the collection are now on display in a small [...]
[ June 6, 2009; 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. ] A South Berwick sea captain captured by pirates. Gundalows unloading fresh lobsters and merchandise from the far corners of the globe. Hundreds of mill workers weaving cotton into textiles. Arson attacks and battles over liquor laws.
These bits of local history will be visited on the Old Berwick Historical Society’s Tour of Quamphegan Landing to be [...]
[ May 16, 2009; 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. ] Historic New England presents:
A Sailor’s Life for Me!
When: Saturday, May 16, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Where: Hamilton House, South Berwick, Me.
Phone: 207-384-2454
Admission: HNE adult members $3 / HNE child members free/ $8 adult nonmembers / $4 child nonmembers
Explore the early Maritime History of South Berwick at the Hamilton House. Did you know that Hamilton House [...]
[ April 23, 2009; 7:30 pm; ] [caption id="attachment_935" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Hamilton House Garden, South Berwick, ME"][/caption]
Gardens of the Isles of Shoals and of the Hamilton House in South Berwick will be the subject of an illustrated lecture at 7:30 pm Thursday, April 23 at Berwick Academy’s Jeppesen Science Center on Academy Street, South Berwick. The program, “Shoals and Tidewater,” is presented [...]
[ April 18, 2009; 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. ] An invitation from Bruce Whitney:
Old Fields Burying Ground on Vine Street
Saturday, April 18 – 9:00 am to noon
Help care for an important part of historic South Berwick. This cemetery has graves dating back to the town’s earliest days
Bring gloves, rakes, tarps and a good appetite. Lunch is provided at noon/ (Rain Date Sunday April 19)
Over [...]
A full year of events offered by the Old Berwick Historical Society will begin with a virtual ride on the Boston and Maine Railroad of the 1800s led by historical writer Nelson H. Lawry on Thursday evening, January 22, at 7:30 pm at Berwick Academy.
Lawry’s PowerPoint talk, “The Not-So-Vanished Railroads of the Berwicks,” will allow [...]
Old Berwick Historical Society lecture:
“Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death”
Thursday, October 23, 7:30 pm
Fogg Memorial at Berwick Academy
Admission is free and refreshments will be served
More information:
www.obhs.net or (207) 384-0000.
About two centuries ago, several New England newspapers, including the Dover Sun of Dover, New Hampshire, reported than an 85-year-old Vermont man was lost in the woods [...]
The Sarah Orne Jewett House is all dressed up for Independence Day. Historic New England staff used photos from the 1936 Berwick Day Parade as inspiration.
Sarah Orne Jewett House is located at 5 Portland Street in South Berwick, Me. It is open June 1 through October 15, Friday through Sunday with tours at [...]
The Counting House Museum offers visitors “South Berwick’s Attic,” an exhibit of local curios from past generations, and exhibits from the 17th century Chadbourne home site. Regular weekend summer hours are from 1 to 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays through October. Admission is free.
For over four decades, local families have been [...]
Are you ready to get out of the house now that the oppressive heat is gone? Here are two opportunities to enjoy the beauty of a South Berwick June day.
Landscape and Garden Tour, Hamilton House, South Berwick, Me.
Wednesday, June 11, 10-11:30
Phone: 207-384-2454
Admission: $8 Historic New England members, $12 nonmembers
Take part in a special [...]
“A Sailor’s Life for Me!” takes place on May 17 (rain date of May 18), 11am to 3 pm. Admission is free for Historic New England members. Non-member admission for adults is $6 and children is $4. In recognition of Armed Forces Day, kids get in free when mom or dad shows [...]
Old Berwick Historical Society Talk
Thursday, April 24, 2008,7:30 pm
Berwick Academy, Fogg Memorial Building
“The Making of Strawbery Banke “ — Author Dennis Robinson presents the compelling history of this 10 acre museum that was born out of a controversial urban renewal project, and explores the politics of preservation in a small blue collar city [...]
The squill have covered the ground in a carpet of blue in the aisle garden behind the Sarah Orne Jewett House on Main Street.
A new self-guided walking tour brochure leads South Berwick residents and visitors down streets, past shops, houses, and other nineteenth-century sites prominent in the life of author Sarah Orne Jewett.
The public is invited to a free reception celebrating the release of the brochure at the Counting House Museum on Sunday, April 20, at 3:00 p.m. [...]
Television is usually bad and with the writers’ strike it’s even worse. If you are sick of sitting home watching reruns or ill-conceived reality shows, here’s an alternative.
Thurs., January 24 – 7:30 pm, Berwick Academy, South Berwick
Old Berwick Historical Society presents
Placenames of South Berwick
The Slide Show
Wendy Pirsig of the Old Berwick Historical Society presents [...]
It is a wonderful day for a stroll around Hamilton House.
