Lincoln County Historical Association (LCHA) invites all Lincoln County residents to visit its three museums free of charge on June 4. The 1754 Chapman-Hall House in Damariscotta, the 1761 Pownalborough Court House in Dresden, and the 1811 Old Jail in Wiscasset will be open for tours on a walk-in basis. The usual admission rate of $10 per person over age 16 will be waived for Lincoln County residents and visitors will find special offerings at each site.

 

The Chapman-Hall House and the Old Jail Museum will both be open from noon to 4 p.m., while the Pownalborough Court House will be open from 10 a.m to 4 p.m.

 

At the Chapman-Hall House, visitors can enjoy our face-in-hole cutout photo booth and will receive their own hand-forged nail to take home. At the Old Jail Museum, guests will be treated to homemade gingerbread (a staple of the prisoner’s diets), and at the Pownalborough Court House, all guests will be entered in a drawing for locally handcrafted gifts.

 

LCHA was founded in 1954 by noted local artist Mildred Burrage with a mission to collect, preserve and interpret the history of Lincoln County, Maine, which once extended from Brunswick to Canada. Key to the organization’s work is the stewardship of three historic buildings: the 1761 Pownalborough Court House in Dresden, the 1811 Old Jail in Wiscasset, and the 1754 Chapman-Hall House in Damariscotta.

 

LCHA’s three museums feature collections of textiles and costumes, tools, furniture, baskets, housewares, photographs, maps, manuscripts, and other ephemera that help to tell Lincoln County’s stories. With the help of volunteer docents, the buildings also tell real human stories —of law and order, crimes and punishments, and the lives of residents as our towns became settled communities.