Category: History

Battle of Lexington Reenactment

British reenactors marching from the battle Photo: Bradley Morin By Andrew Morin This past Saturday, the town of Lexington, Massachusetts celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord with a historic reenactment and parade. The reenactment saw the militia minutemen facing British forces, and the subsequent conflict that took place. The story of the Battle of Lexington is an integral part of American history that marks the start of our nation's struggle for independence. When Paul Revere…

Museum Lands Rare $100 Bill

Photo: Paul Auger By Paul Auger, Sanford Springvale Historical Society In a significant addition to its collection, the Sanford Springvale Historical Society recently acquired an extremely rare $100 Sanford Bank note, issued in 1860. The note is believed to be one of the rarest in Maine, dating back to the era of "wildcat banking," when banks issued their own currency before the federal government standardized paper money. Before the Civil War, the United States lacked a single national currency. Instead, thousands of state-chartered banks…

A Look Back at When Sanford Lost its Sunday Papers

Photo: Springvale Public Library By Lawrence Furbish How much do you love your newspaper? If one day you found that it was unavailable, what would you do and how would you feel? On Friday, April 2, 1909, the weekly Sanford Tribune ran an article about just such an event and its impact on the town. The headlines were "LID WAS ON TIGHT - All Stores Except Lunchrooms and Restaurants were Closed - COULDN’T GET SUNDAY PAPERS - Puritanical Sunday Under…

Railroad Talk

Jonathan Wells, a retired railroad engineer and railroad historian, entertained a capacity crowd at the Sanford Springvale Historical Museum on Sunday afternoon with stories, slides and videos of the railroads that ran through Springvale up until 1961. That was followed by a short presentation by Lee Burnett about efforts to re-home granite mile markers to the Rail Trail to commemorate the railroad era.

Colorful Railroad Era Subject of Upcoming Talk

Jonathan Wells, retired Pan Am Railroad engineer Photo: Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society From a press releaseThe once bustling railroad that ran through Springvale will come alive in an upcomingslide show and talk by Jonathan Wells, a retired Pan Am Systems locomotive engineer who is an authority on the Worcester, Nashua and Portland division of Boston & Maine Railroad. This 1905 photo shows a steam locomotive with the former passenger station on Pleasant Street, Springvale near the intersection with…