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Newsletter Archives

 
 
Old Orchard Beach Historical Society
Harmon Museum Quarterly Newsletter - Spring 2007
In This Issue
Museum Receives Grant
New Book Release
Vietnam Memorial
question
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to this newsletter
 
Repairs Needed

clock
The Harmon Museum's beautiful 1866 Ithaca Company wall clock is in dire need of repair, cleaning and tuneup (photo above is example, not actual clock).  The estimated cost of this work is $1,000.  Anyone interested in forming a clock committee, please email Dan Blaney or phone Dan at 229-0133.
Membership
 
Membership to the Old Orchard Beach Historical Society is just $10 per year and is tax deductible.  To join the Society, simply send your name, mailing address, email and telephone number along with a check or money order payable to the Old Orchard Beach Historical Society  to:
 
OOB Historical Society
Attn: Membership
4 Portland Avenue
Old Orchard Beach, ME 04064
 
Please join now and support our local history for you and others to enjoy later.  Your support is greatly appreciated and we look forward to hearing from you!
Centennial Anniversary of the Great Fire

The Harmon Museum's 2007 Summer Display will recognize the centennial anniversary of the August 15, 1907 fire which destroyed most of downtown (photo above depicts the Hotel Fiske burning).  More details, including guest speaker and special program dates, will follow in the next edition of the newsletter (summer 2007). 
Harmon Museum Summer Hours
museum
 
The Harmon Museum, home of the Old Orchard Beach Historical Society, is free & open to the public Tuesday thru Saturday, Noon-5:00
Groups welcome.
Harmon Museum Receives Restoration Grant

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Harry Jones (above center), flanked by his mechanics, Alfred Morse and Louis Burnell, and his Stinson Detroiter SB-1, September 1927.

Old Orchard Beach Historical Society has received $540 to preserve and provide better access to its aviation collection. The Maine Historical Records Advisory Board provided the grant with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Committee.

 

As many have noted, the "creative economy" is an important factor in the state's economic growth.  Old Orchard Beach, a resort community, relies on its creative economy to bring in tourism and support its local residents. Cultural resources like the Old Orchard Beach Historical Society, The Harmon Museum and Old Orchard Beach Public Library, these grants sustain the basic infrastructure of this key sector of our economy.

 

"Grants of this kind support community efforts to protect the stories of our birth, property rights, government, and how we lived our lives," noted Jim Henderson, Director the Maine State Archives. Small grants have stimulated local citizens and organizations to commit more of their own resources to these projects. "Although financial support is important, recognition of local concerns and efforts through an award also generates a substantial amount of enthusiasm," Henderson noted.

 

Anastasia S. Weigle, Project Archivist, wrote the grant back in September 2006 and received the good news December 2006. The former Director of Dyer Library, Anastasia was able to bring in a grant for the Dyer Library Archives back in 2005. As the project archivist, Anastasia; together with Evelyn Cooper, historian and Joyce Rorabaugh, collection coordinator; will survey, preserve, process and make available to the public the aviation collection at The Harmon Museum. This collection includes artifacts, photographs, postcards, and scrapbooks. The Harry M. Jones Collection is a large part of this. Harry M. Jones is one of Maine's great pioneers in aviation history who, in 1919, began his career as operator of an airplane hanger at Old Orchard Beach and made a number of promotional flights.

 
Learn More...
 
Harry M. Jones
(1890-1973) served as Maine's State Aviation Commissioner in the 1930's and had a long, distinguished and interesting career in aeronautics with ties to Old Orchard Beach.  Jones had a hangar at the Old Orchard Beach airfield for his Jones Flying Corporation and gave sightseeing flights.  He made the first air mail flight in Maine on October 23, 1919 flying from Portland to Augusta.  He was the first (and last) person ever to land a plane on the Boston Common; was pilot of the first-ever air parcel post flight from Boston to New York in 1913, and a test pilot during WWII.  Jones was arguably the most visible New England aviator in the 1920s. He served as Maine's State Aviation Commissioner in the 1930s, and eventually became an Inspector for the Civil Aeronautics Administration.
 
New Book Pictures Town's Past
Local historian and Old Orchard Beach Historical Society trustee Dan Blaney has released a new book, Postcard History Series: Old Orchard Beach, containing 227 photos and historical postcards of Old Orchard Beach from his immense personal collection.
 
From 1631 to the present, Old Orchard Beach has had a singularly rich history among New England's summer communities. Old Orchard was originally a small seacoast farming community nestled on the shore of Saco Bay. When the railroad came in 1873, the coast exploded into one of the grandest Victorian settings in Maine. It boasted famous religious camp meetings, transatlantic flights, big bands, big fires, harness racing, and automobile racing on the beach. The Kennedy family, Bette Davis, Fred Allen, Rosa and Carmen Ponselle, Pierre Trudeau, and Charles Lindbergh all rejuvenated themselves in this community. Old Orchard Beach is still a vacation mecca, and residents and visitors alike will find enjoyment and education within these pages.
 
Postcard History Series: Old Orchard Beach by Daniel Blaney is available at Borders, Nonesuch Books, Ocean Park Gift Shop, direct from Dan Blaney at Beach Glass in Old Orchard Beach, Cottage Decor in Old Orchard Beach, Field Mouse in Saco, the OOB Historical Society & Harmon Museum and online at Amazon.com
 The Moving Wall Vietnam Memorial Comes to Old Orchard Beach May 24th

The Moving Wall will be at Memorial Park in Old Orchard Beach May 24th through May 28th.  This important memorial requires many helping hands and volunteers are needed.  For information on volunteer opportunities, contact Jason Webber at jwebber@oobmaine.com or phone 207-934-0860. 
Upcoming Events
 
The Moving Wall Vietnam Memorial ~ May 24 through 28, 2007
Memorial Park, Old Orchard Beach.  FMI contact Jason Webber at jwebber@oobmaine.com or phone 934-0860. 
 
Old Orchard Beach Historical Society 2007 Meeting Schedule
Harmon Museum, 4 Portland Avenue, Old Orchard Beach.  FMI email oobhistsoc@maine.rr.com  or phone 207-934-9319. 
All meetings are open to the public and visitors are welcome.  Meetings Dates for 2007:
May 15, 2007 - 7:00 p.m.
July 10, 2007 - 7:00 p.m.
September 11, 2007 - 7:00 p.m.
November 13, 2007 - 7:00 p.m. (Election of Officers)
About Us 

Incorporated November 10, 1954, the Old Orchard Beach Historical Society was founded to preserve, promote, educate, collect and make available information documenting the rich history of our town and ites people.  A membership organization, the Society welcomes anyone who shares an interest in Old Orchard's past, present, or future and who wants to ensure care of our Harmon Museum and its extensive archives.  After the death of W.Warren Harmon in 1974, his home at 4 Portland Avenue became our home.  Recently, restoration and renovation work performed over the winter on the second floor foyer of the museum building was completed.
Old Orchard Beach Historical Society 2006-2007 Officers
President: Charles Davis ~ Vice President: Arthur Guerin ~ Treasurer: Priscilla Gallant ~ Secretary: Lee Koenigs
 

 

Old Orchard Beach Historical Society

 
Season's Greetings December 2006 ~ Harmon Museum
Old Orchard Beach Historical Society
In This Issue
  • 100 years
  • Bright Future, Golden Past
  • Explore Maine's History
  • Subscribe to our email list
Dear Members & Friends,

Season's greetings from all of us at the Old Orchard Beach Historical Society and the Harmon Museum.

We are pleased to introduce the first edition of our e- newsletter. The goal of this publication is to improve communication with all those who share an interest in preserving the history of our beautiful seaside community for future generations to enjoy.

We invite you to submit articles, photographs or other items of interest for inclusion in future issues of our e-newsletter. Do you or a friend or relative have a particularly interesting memory of our town? Put it in writing so it can be enjoyed by all. Submissions should be sent to Articles.

100 years

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Photo at right: Caption reads Ice formation at Old Orchard Beach, Maine (circa 1900)

Following is a wonderfully descriptive book excerpt describing our town. What is so interesting about this piece is that, although seemingly a present-day description of Old Orchard, it was published exactly 100 years ago, in 1906, by L.H. Nelson Co. in the book "Old Orchard and Vicinity."

"From the mouth of the Saco River eastward to Prout's Neck stretches a wide ribbon of sea-beach curving like a mighty long-bow. Sections of this great sand highway are known by various local titles, but about four miles of it - where at low tide the hard, find sand is nearly one-quarter of a mile wide - bears the famous name of Old Orchard - the best- known and most popular bathing beach in New England.

As the longest, widest and most solid sand beach of new England, Old Orchard early became known and appreciated by health and pleasure seekers. The town now includes many permanent homes as well as hundreds of summer cottages, scores of hotels, restaurants and boarding houses. During the summer season its population rapidly increases to rival that of the prosperous cities in the immediate vicinity.

As the years go by, Old Orchard gains rather than loses in popularity. Other resorts seem to have their ups and downs, but this great popular bathing-place is pre-eminent in the splendid opportunity it affords for beholding the great gray ocean in its most lovable moods. It never loses its freshness or interest to those who have once felt its seductive charms."

Learn more about our town's past...

Bright Future, Golden Past

Be a part of ushering in Old Orchard Beach's bright future by preserving its golden past! The Historical Society works to educate the public about the significance of Old Orchard's past and its relationship to our lives today. Without its members, the Old Orchard Beach Historical Society is nothing but a name. We need you and are grateful for your continued interest in preserving, understanding and celebrating the cultural heritage of Old Orchard Beach and the Saco Bay region

We encourage you to invite others to become members and support preservation work in the region. Membership is just $10 per year and supports maintenance and operation of the Historical Society's home, the Harmon Museum, an excellent example of Victorian period Arts & Crafts architecture located at the top of Old Orchard Street.

For more information about membership email us at the Old Orchard Beach Historical Society.


Explore Maine's History

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Learn more about Maine's history and Old Orchard Beach by exploring these online websites...

Maine Memory Network

Maine Historical Society


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Best wishes to you and yours for a safe, happy and peaceful holiday season.

Warm regards,

The Old Orchard Beach Historical Society
Harmon Museum



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