The Bristol History Center headquarters for the Old Bristol Historical Society at 2089 Bristol Road in the Bristol village of Pemaquid. After four years of fundraising and renovations, the former lumber store now houses a climate-controlled vault, a reading room filled with historical documents, and exhibits for visitors. (Evan Houk photo)
After four years of fundraising and renovations, the Old Bristol Historical Society opened its new headquarters at the Bristol History Center in Pemaquid on Sunday, July 3.
More than 250 visitors passed through for an ice cream social and live music. Two exhibits were set up inside the history center, along with a reading room filled with historical books, pictures, yearbooks, town records, and other documents available for perusal.
Summer hours for the Bristol History Center will be 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, according to Belinda Osier, secretary for the Old Bristol Historical Society’s Board of Directors.
The historical society renovated the former Hammond Lumber Co. and Poole Brothers building, located at 2089 Bristol Road in the village of Pemaquid, into a history center that features a walk-in, climate-controlled vault, exhibit spaces, and an office and conference room.
Work has been ongoing at the adjacent Mill at Pemaquid Falls since May 2019. The plan is to turn the 19th-century mill into a “working museum” and replica of its historically accurate former self, according to The Rev. Bobby Ives, president of the Old Bristol Historical Society.
Phil Averill, member of the historical society’s board of directors, has traced the ownership of the Mill at Pemaquid Falls back to 1853. The property was most recently home to Poole Brothers lumber from 1923 until around 2010, and then LaValley Lumber Co. and Hammond Lumber Co. Hammond closed its location at the property in July 2018.
Once complete, the mill will house exhibits and relics from Bristol and its villages, like antique rakes and saws, will be on display, Ives said. Exhibits will deal with the history of the grist, carding, and saw mills it has housed.
The roof of the mill will be installed this fall, Ives said. Ed Blaiklock, of Blaiklock Carpentry Inc., of Woolwich, is performing restoration work on the mill.
Plans are also in the works for a park area behind the mill along the Pemaquid River. The Damariscotta River Association, now Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust, closed on the Pemaquid Mill property Dec. 21, 2018, after raising $415,000 in cooperation with the Pemaquid Watershed Association, local citizens, and others. Coastal Rivers deeded the property to the historical society in 2019.
An inflatable duck was set up on the road to attract visitors and to raise awareness about the society’s Rubber Ducky Race fundraiser, to be held from 1-1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 21 at the Mill at Pemaquid Falls, right next to the newly opened history center.
Exhibits will be rotated periodically in the Bristol History Center, Osier said.
On July 3, the main exhibit featured a history of the area and different professions, as well as an explanation of the Pemaquid Falls mill and its operation and history.
Another exhibit compares images of Bristol’s different villages in the early 20th century and a century or so later. Chuck Rand, archivist with the historical society, came up with the idea and is responsible for curating it.
The archival vault will preserve historic photos, postcards, documents, and old town records, which visitors can view in the reading room and library area during operating hours.
Matthew Fountain, a Bristol contractor, helped build the vault and said when it is complete, it can withstand a fire if the building burns down. The climate-controlled environment will protect historic documents from the elements, like humidity.
The vault still needs cinderblocks and cement to be installed on top to be finished, Fountain said.
Another recently installed feature of the history center is an online database where people can search for a genealogical record or any other information or images that may be in the archives. The database, found at obhs.catalogaccess.com, currently has 2,478 names with genealogical information attached.
Jan Marie Bacon played folk music on acoustic guitar and sang for the crowd during the ice cream social.
For more information, email oldbristolhistoricalsociety03@gmail.com or call 677-3203.
