There will be an Annual Meeting of the Old Orchard Beach Historical Society
Thursday, November 14th at 7:00 p.m. Click here FMI.
A Successful 2013 Season Wraps-up!
Many thanks to our staff, volunteers and visitors for a successful 2013 summer season! Many visitors from around the world stopped in to learn more about the rich history of Old Orchard Beach and to enjoy all the Harmon Museum has to offer.
We are now closed for the season, but the museum's office staff is available year-round by phone or email. In addition, the museum is open to groups by appointment during the off season (September through May). We hope to hear from you! Contact us for more information.
Welcome Members & Visitors
Welcome to the Harmon Museum, home of the Old Orchard Beach Historical Society. Along seven miles of Atlantic shoreline in Saco Bay lies the unique town of Old Orchard Beach. Those who live here never want to leave, and those who visit yearn to return.
If you think museums are staid and boring, then you haven't been to Old Orchard Beach's Harmon Museum recently. Since last September, twenty volunteers have created new exhibits for 2013 that will educate, entertain and excite the senses. Click here for a full description of what your summer visit to the museum will offer!
We appreciate your virtual visit today, and hope you will make an in-person visit to the Museum again, or for the first time during our summer hours (or year-round by appointment). Contact us for more information.
The Hotel Velvet, circa 1904
Interested in period pictures? Check out Postcard History Series Old Orchard Beach, by Town Historian Daniel E. Blaney. Book available through our Web Store.
Who Was Edward "Ned" Clemmons?
By Stan Quinlan (for the Old Orchard Beach Historical Society)
If you had asked someone about Edward B. "Ned" Clemmens back in the mid-1800's, they could have filled your ears with tales of one of the most interesting characters ever to grace the streets of Old Orchard, as it was known in those days. He was a seer without peer, the first to envision Old Orchard as becoming "one of the most famous watering places in New England, even in the nation." Not only that, he was called "half-hermit, half-epicure." Eventually, he became known as "The Hermit of Old Orchard Beach."
Originally from Philadelphia, PA, where he was born in 1810, Ned had been a stage actor, traveling with the notorious Phineas T. Barnum... (click here to read full article).
Please bookmark our website and return often to learn more about Old Orchard Beach's bright future and golden past!
