Harpswell Celebrates USA 250th

Join us in celebrating the United States of America's 250th birthday this year. Volunteers will be hosting events all summer long with a special focus on Harpswell's history and our Nation's history. We'll be updating this page as events are planned, so check back often!

 

Harpswell History Hunters Scavenger Hunt

In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, the Harpswell History Hunters invite YOU to explore 16 sites across Harpswell, Maine this summer. Click here to get started!

 

Coming up Soon:

*All events are FREE

Tour of Harpswell Burying Grounds
Saturday, August 15 from 11 am to 2 pm

Tour some of Harpswell's burial grounds on the Neck, Islands, and in Cundy's Harbor. See the graves of Harpswell’s Revolutionary War soldiers, ship captains and local characters. Slate, sandstone and granite markers with designs from skulls to anchors and flowers span colonial Harpswell until today. Meet at Town Hall at from 11:00 a.m. until noon for tour booklet.


Historic Architecture Tour
Saturday, September 5 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm (rain date Monday, September 7)

Tour the Harpswell properties on the National Register of Historic Places. From 9 a.m. to noon, tour Cundy's Harbor and the Islands. From 1 to 3 p.m. tour Harpswell Neck. These local monuments provide a tangible reflection of the original colonial settlement patterns, our role in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, the country's economic boom and bust cycles, as well as local business development and the establishment of religious, fraternal and political organizations. We will explore the architecture of the town during a 200-year period from 1750 to 1950 in the town's three distinct geopgraphic areas. Participants will learn from architectural historians Deane Van Dusen and John Goff about 12 different architectural styles and how to identify period details that define a specific time period in American history.

 

And Later This Summer: 

Bean and Pie Bake-Off with Harpswell Aging at Home
September 23, 12:00 p.m.
Mitchell Field

Pre-register to enter the Bake-Off, then bring your entry with the recipe and your folding chair to enjoy the judging and stay for Lunch with Friends lunch with beans and pie and other Harpswell foods.

 

250 Years of Harpswell Farming
September 27, 1:00-4:00 p.m.

Join us at the Merriconeag Grange to learn more about the history of farming in Harpswell. Sam Alexander and John Ott will show examples of agricultural tools used over the years. Have fun guessing what some of them were used for at the WhatsIt? table. Help with cider pressing from 2:30 pm with apples gathered from Harpswell’s abundant trees.

 

Earlier This Summer: 

Church Tours

We toured eight of Harpswell's local churches in Cundy's Harbor, Orr’s and Bailey islands and on Harpswell Neck. Visitors enjoyed the stories from different times and faith traditions, gaining and understanding of how worship has changed and endured over the centuries.


Community Concert

We gathered for a community sing of patriotic music with the choirs of Elijah Kellogg Church and Islands Community Church, accompanied by Ed Striewski, music director of Islands Community Church. Sandi Ste.George, author of Harpswell Song, written in 2009, was a special guest.

 

Schooner Alert Tours

We enjoyed half a day of sailing and storytelling, from Abenaki natives to today’s newcomers. We stepped back in time aboard a wooden fishing schooner and enjoyed Harpswell history and lore as told by The Brothers York—Ron York, storyteller, former postman and Harpswell original, and his brother, Gerry York, historian and administrator of Harpswell Yesterdays.