Gouldsboro, Maine Historical Society

Prediction:  

• The museum will highlight the history of Gouldsboro’s relationship with the sea.

At the Society:

The Gouldsboro Historical Society is more like an antique shop where the items aren’t for sale than it is a museum.  They have a great collection of artifacts and material culture that speaks to the way life was at various points of the last 8000 years, however, there is little interpretation and a narrative is difficult to discern.

Most interesting were the Native American artifacts discovered in archaeological digs in the area over the last 100 years. Thinking about the year-round demographics of the town today, it was interesting to see some of the luxury items of yesteryear.  My hunch is that there was a more defined divide between the top and bottom of the full-year residents, economically, and as a result materially, 100 years ago than there is today.

From: 1860 Topographical Map of Hancock County

Most relevant to the history of the town was an exhibit on the fishing and boat building history of Gouldsboro.  A strong relationship with the sea and its changes over time were apparent.  While lobstering has remained an important industry for over one hundred years in the town, the tools of the trade have changed along with the rules and regulations around the trade.  Boat styles and manufacturing techniques have changed as have the ways in which the sea is utilized. Prospect Harbor, a borough of Gouldsboro, was first put on maps as a place for seamen in the 1700s to get fresh water.  Also, a sardine factory once stood in Prospect Harbor and now a National Park, which bans clamming and worming on its shorelines, sits on a significant portion of Gouldsboro and what was once Gouldsboro.   

The museum has two buildings separated by four miles.  One is housed in the Old Town Hall, and the other in a former Methodist Church.  The climate controlled former church is more like an archive, housing centuries old town records, ancient books, and research done over the years.  Looking over the collections of material culture, records, and research the town values become clear:  fishing, military service, patriotism, deeply rooted families, obscurely important townspeople, the sea, and material culture that reflects the before mentioned values are prevalent throughout.   Altogether, the museum reflects a small town, with small money, that is relatively irrelevant in the grand scheme of American History.  That said, the town is proud of its history and its several connections where it and its citizens played a supporting role in big events in the greater American narrative.