Category: History

First Integrated Basketball Game in Maine 

Bucky Lew and his Lowell Five teammates by Chris Boucher Did you know the first integrated basketball game in Maine took place in Sanford in 1913?   The groundbreaking event took place when Harry “Bucky” Lew, basketball’s first Black professional, brought his Lowell Five to old Town Hall in Springvale Village to face the local team.  Of course, the Town Hall still stands today and is in fact remarkably well preserved. The current home of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society, it’s one…
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Sanford Rail Trail History

A transportation corridor evolves from railroad to multipurpose trail to linear park  Once upon a time, there was a railroad connecting Sanford and Rochester, New Hampshire. It was started around 1870 and was called the Portland and Rochester Railroad Company. It carried both passengers and freight. There is a great story about one of the cars sinking into soft ground near Deering Pond in Springvale until it completely disappeared. You can find a picture and more information about this story…
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Mystery Remains Identified After Six Year Search

The skeletal remains that were unearthed during the excavation for Cumberland Farms in 2017 have finally been identified, thanks to help from the DNA Doe Project (DDP), a nonprofit organization that works to restore names to unidentified remains. The Sanford Police Department hosted a press conference on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, to announce the remains have been identified as those of Edith Patten, who was born in 1867 and died November 12, 1891. SPD Historian and Sanford High School history…
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Historic Sweat Homestead To Become Mousam Way Land Trust’s New HQ

The 1777 farm and homestead of Reverend Moses Sweat will become the new headquarters of the Mousam Way Land Trust following a bequest of 100 acres of land and the historic home located on lower School St. The bequest was made by Virginia Hurd Morin, a Sanford native who passed away earlier this year at the age of 99. The gift of the properties was unexpected, according to Bud Johnston, President of the Land Trust. Mrs. Morin also provided one…
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Civil War Veteran’s New Stone to be Dedicated Sunday

Civil War veteran Stephen Farnham, who is buried in the Farnham-Dorr Cemetery adjacent to the new Convenient MD by the South Sanford roundabout, has a new headstone thanks to the efforts of local residents who wanted to see him properly memorialized. Stephen Farnham was born in South Berwick in 1841. The 1850 census finds him living in Wells with his parents, Ralph (a laborer) and Phebe, and older siblings. By the 1860 census, Stephen and his brother Nathaniel were working…
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