Category: History

Spring Gets Splashy Makeover 

Dave Allen and Shawn Jalbert spill water through a newly installed stone troughat the refurbished Springvale spring. Photo: Lee Burnett By Lee Burnett, Submissions editor  The spring that gave Springvale its name is inspiring efforts to enhance it and the wooded park surrounding it.  A stone artist with rustic sensibilities has restored the spring’s dilapidated stonework, added stone block seating and improved the aesthetics of the site off Bridge Street. Water now sluices out of a polished stone trough and splashes onto…
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Relic From Battleship U.S.S Maine Unveiled at Annual Meeting

Thelma Simpson admires the plaque celebrating U.S.S. Maine by Lawrence Furbish By Lawrence Furbish, Sanford Springvale Historical Society Board Member The Sanford-Springvale Historical Society held its 2023 annual meeting at the Museum on Thursday, September 14. Society President Harland Eastman welcomed members and guests in his usual relaxed and lighthearted way. A highlight of the evening was the unveiling of a plaque celebrating the battleship U.S.S. Maine and honoring the Simpson family who funded the plaque’s restoration. There’s an interesting…
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Furniture Dealer and Friends Created Service Club

By Lawrence Furbish, past President and past District Governor, Sanford-Springvale Rotary Club One Friday in the summer of 1922, Willis H. Folsom, a Springvale furniture dealer, went to the Falmouth Hotel in Portland for a meeting of the Portland Rotary Club. When the luncheon broke up, he waylaid the club secretary, explained how he was a great admirer of the organization, and asked how he could be proposed for membership. After some discussion, the secretary said that given the distance…
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The Origins of The Historic Sweat Morin Homestead

By Lawrence Furbish, Sweat Morin Homestead board member In the 1700s, Massachusetts law (you may recall Maine was part of Massachusetts at that time) required every town to provide preaching by an "able, learned, orthodox (which meant Congregational) minister." Early attempts to form a Congregational church in Sanford floundered and, in fact, the first church here was a Baptist church. Eventually, in 1786, a church was formed and Moses Sweat was a called as its first pastor. Moses had been…
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Historic 1786 House Restoration

By Lawrence Furbish, Sweat Morin Homestead board member Residents of Sanford and Springvale have been given the opportunity to enjoy a special gift, the chance to see what life was like in colonial Maine and to learn about the Reverend Moses Sweat, a very significant figure in our city’s history. Work is currently underway to preserve and restore the house built for Reverend Sweat on lower School Street at the time of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. The plan is…
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