The Westbrook Historical Society

PROGRAMS 2016 - 2017

Programs are presented at 1:30 o'clock on the 1st Wednesday of each month (unless otherwise noted), with the exception of June, July and August. Everyone is welcome, there is no charge.
LOCATION: 426 BRIDGE STREET - Parking in front of building or on right side, by Society entrance.

*****NOTE: If school is cancelled, the Historical Society meeting is cancelled *****

September 7, 2016 - Homes, Businesses and Schools. Tom Clarke, a lifelong Westbrook resident and Society member, will take us down memory lane as he discusses and shows photos of Westbrook Past.

October 5, 2016 - Hidden Histories in Quilts: What your antique quilt can tell you about past times.

A quilt found in an attic on Pride Street set off a search to find the history of the quilt and its creator. Margaret Chernosky, a teacher consultant with the Maine Geographic Alliance, an arm of the National Geographic Society, enjoys quilting in her spare time and will discuss the history and art of quilting.

***If you have an old quilt at home ...bring it to the meeting, let's see what we can discover about it!

November 2, 2016 - History of the Knowlton Machine Company. Westbrook native, history buff, and long-time employee of Knowlton Machine Co., Ken Moody will show photos and talk about this company's long Westbrook history.

Knowlton Machine Co. employees
1896, Saccarappa, Maine

Some Westbrook soldiers

December 7, 2016- The Maine Home Front in WWI will be discussed by Maine State Historian Earle Shuttleworth, Jr. On this 100th anniversary of America's entrance into WWI, it is fitting that we remember our forefathers' war efforts, both at home and over seas.

January 4, 2017 - A Taste and a Toast to Westbrook - Join us for a sampling of Westbrook produced foods and beverages - some old, some new and some surprises. Help us welcome and support our local merchants and businesses.

catbird cremery

February 1, 2017 - For more than 50 years, Jack Dawson has been devoted to the advancement of the game of football in Maine.
College Hall of Famer and winner of the 2016 Leadership Award from the National Football Foundation, Jack Dawson had a long and varied career at Westbrook High School. He will speak to the Society about some of his experiences as coach, teacher, guidance counselor, and summer sports camp instructor.

March 1, 2017 - Steamboats On The Sebago Explore the history of Steamboats on Sebago and Long Lake from 1846 to the 1930s as the Lakes Region became the Switzerland of America. A Power Point presentation using many of the postcard images of the era by Dave Tanguay, Windham Historical Society

(Photo from Internet)

April 5, 2017 - The Historic Gambo Powder Mills – Don Wescott, a representative for the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust and Steward/Docent for the Gambo Falls. Preserve, will discuss gunpowder production at Gambo Falls on the Presumpscot River from 1824-1904. During the Civil War, about a fourth of the military gunpowder used by the Union Army was produced at these mills.

May 3, 2017 - Travels with Donna & Norm - Since 2006, Donna and Norm Conley have been wintering out west in their RV. This winter they visited Galveston, TX and discovered a Westbrook connection to this beautiful city. Join us to learn the story of Galveston's Saccarappa.

June 7, 2017 - Annual meeting - No Program

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2015 - 2016 Programs: The Downtown Art Collective, History of the Clarke Farm, Fort Province Archeology Dig

2014 - 2015 Programs: Bartlett Adams, gravestone engraver; The Importance of Family Stories; The S.A.L.T. Institute;Civil War Veterans at Evergreen Cemetery; Recycling Program; Greater Portland's Irish Heritage; Genetic Genealogy; 24 Hours in the Fire Department; Highland Lake Grange

2013 - 2014 Programs: Tour of Evergreen Cemetery; Development of Halidon Tax-Free Colony; Westbrook's Bicentennial; History Blog work-shop; Maine's Early Female Physicians; Maine Forest Fires of 1947; Author presentation: "MAINE - The Wilder Part of New England"; Edward L. Mayo, Artist; Dowsing for Graves

2012-2013 Programs: Portland Fire of 1866; Swimming the English Channel; Civil War Medicine; History of Maine Barns; Cumberland & Oxford Canal; Riverton Trolley Park; Westbrook's Quaker Artist; Deering; Remembering Westbrook's Veterans

2011-2012 Programs: Story of 1951 Little League Champs; A Photographic Show of Westbrook; Using Deeds in Genealogy; Remembering the Civil War; Joys of Collecting Ephemera; Meet the Author, Mary Morton Cowan; Appraisal Day; The Quakers in Maine

2010-2011 Programs: Remembering Westbrook: People of the Paper City, Story of the New England Barn, WW II Diary of Philip LaViolet, The Roberts family of Saco Street, 1866 Portland Fire, Antique Post Cards, From the Hedgrows of Normandy

2009-2010 Programs: Westbrook Then & Now Part III, Collecting is Fun, Over a Cardboard Sea entertainers, Treasure Hunting, Halidon Tax Colony, Halifax Disaster, Girl of the Past, History of Playing
the Spoons, Bones & Saw, Westbrook Immigrants: Peters, Trickey, Kinmond, Roy, Rocheleau families, Maritime History of Portland.

2008-2009 Programs: Westbrook Then & Now Part II, Collecting Old Bottles, Maine Military Museum, Underground Railroad Quilt, Plight of Irish Longshoremen, S.A.L.T., Westbrook Pewter, Tom Nadeau's Artwork, 3rd Annual Westbrook Immigrants: Kourapis, Cairns, Fournier & LaViolette families.

2007-2008 Programs:Remembering Rudy Vallée, Gilding on Glass, Remembering Our Veterans, The Haskell Silk Mill, Westbrook Then & Now, Early American Folk Remedies, Exploring our Collection, 2nd Annual Westbrook Immigrants: The Woroneka, Zaharis, Conant and Guimond families.

2006 - 2007 Programs: History of Dowsing, Antique Bicycles, Just Black & White Photographs, Al
Hawkes & Local Bluegrass Music, Placing Your Home on the National Register, Portland Trails in Westbrook, Maine Irish History, Northeast Historic Films, Westbrook Immigrants: The Turgeon,
Gerhardts, Keating, Jensen & Rathgeb families.