Willowbrook Historic Village - Newfield, Maine

Store at 19th Century Willowbrook Village

After more than a week of rain, it was time to get out of the house.  We were brainstorming about where to go, but it seemed as though we had done just about everything there was to do in New England.  Then Bethany came across 19th Century Willowbrook Village in Newfield, Maine.  We've known about it for years, but decided it would be a good day trip.  It was about an hour from Greene, in the southwestern part of the state.  An area that lacks the heavy tourist crowd one finds along the coast or even in the more recognized inland areas like Sebago Lake, Bethel and Rangeley. 

It's a rural area of the state, only about 30 miles from Portland and about 10 miles to the New Hampshire border, dotted with small villages.  It seems like these communities have been seemingly forgotten by the masses, but I don't think that's truly the case.  There are many lakes in the area like Lake Arrowhead, Little Ossipee Pond, Square Pond, Great East Lake, Mousam Lake, and Wilson Lake, to name a few, with camps where it is likely that families from in-state and out-of-state make summertime memories.

I'm sure the towns in the area have a history much like Newfield, that was once home to a thriving carriage and sleigh making industry.  Today, it's a place where your family can step back in time and spend a couple hours learning about life in the mid-19th Century.

We drove there along Maine Route 11 and just about the time when we thought we were in the middle of nowhere, we saw the sign directing us to Willowbrook.  As you come over the rise a cluster of 25 buildings surrounding a mill pond lay before you and you think you might have just wandered into a Norman Rockwell painting.

The welcome center is a neatly kept three-story, white clapboard house and attached barn with a well-manicured lawn that gently slopes down to the mill pond.  This is the Amos Straw Country Store which offers penny candy, Maine crafts and other gifts and souvenirs. We bought our tickets and headed straight for the attached barn.  A video providing the back story on Willowbrook is available for those interested, but we were with a 10-year-old who was more interested in exploring the buildings in person than sitting and watching a video about them.

Milk Delivery Carriage

 The barn had several exhibits including creamery, laundry, spinning and weaving, corn broom shop, shoe making, harness making and the Furber Pump Company.  Apparently, Mr. Furber was the guy who invented the manual well pump that took the place of lowering a bucket into the well to get water.  An actual Furber Pump is on the front lawn of the Amos Country Store and kids and adults alike are welcome to test it out.

Milk bottles in the Durgin Barn

There were three floors in the barn.  Upstairs were old bicycles, sleds and sleighs.  The basement of the barn had a wide array of antique machinery that would have been used on the farm during the day.  One of the biggest machines was a horse treadmill that could be hooked up to other machinery.  As the horse walked it operated the machines.

When we arrived, Asthon got a little brochure called the "Passport Through Time" and an ink stamp.  At various exhibits throughout the museum, there were educational tidbits and hands-on interactive exhibits.  As he visited these exhibits, he could stamp the Passport and at the end of the tour he turned it in for a small gift. 

1849 Concord Stagecoach

From this barn, it was off to the Carriage House with 25 restored carriages, wagons and sleighs, including a wagon used by a salesman who sold housewares.  But the pride and joy of the collection is the 1849 Concord Stagecoach.  This beautiful stagecoach used to carry passengers from Bath to Small Point, Maine prior to the Civil War, about a 15-mile trek down the Phippsburg peninsula.

Armitage Herschell Carousel

When you go to Willowbrook, be sure to go when the historic Armitage Herschell Carousel is running.  Apparently it is one of the oldest in the country and for an additional cost, Ashton and I went for a spin.  It was a little different because rather than the horses going up and down, it kind of felt like they were galloping along.  There is an interesting story about how this carousel came to be at Willowbrook, but I don't want to spoil it, so you'll have to visit yourself to find out more.

One Room Schoolhouse

For the next hour or so we visited the rest of the buildings which had many interesting exhibits related to carpentry, gas-powered equipment, printing, logging, cider mill, maple sugaring, haying and a cooperage, among other things.

The last stop was the the schoolhouse where the museum staff offered a program on what it would have been like to go to school around the turn of the century.  Boys sat on the right and girls sat on the left and the teacher had a switch that was used for discipline.  On the wall was a discipline chart showing how many lashes a child would get for breaking the rules.  One of the biggest offenses was picking on the girls.  That would get you 10 lashes - so be nice.

Footbridge to the carpenter's shop

 After having toured the grounds, we took a break at the Sandwich Shop and Ice Cream Parlor where you can get a full lunch, a snack and, or a dish or cone of ice cream.  While Ashton and Bethany enjoyed a bowl of ice cream, I refreshed myself with a root beer float. 

It was a fun day and well worth the trip.  The cost was $12 per adult and $5 for children 6-12.  We also took advantage of the AAA discount that saved $1.00 off per adult.  The carousel ride added $3.00 each, but it was worth the added expense.  We spent about 2 to 2-1/2 hours there and that was without reading every display and probably passing by other displays more quickly than we should have.

While sitting at the picnic table in the shade of a huge oak tree overlooking the village, Ashton summed up the visit by saying, "I thought this was going to be lame, but it turned out to be awesome."

View of the Amos Straw Country Store and Band Stand.

Bicycling the Papermill Road in Lisbon, Maine

Trail sign at the entrance to the Papermill Road Trail on Route 196 in Lisbon.

Springtime has bloomed in Maine and it's the perfect time to dust off the frame, pump up the tires and strap on the helmet for some casual exploring of many bicycle trails that dot the landscape.  While this post only features one ride, our family has already determined that we will be seeking out new places to ride throughout the state, and probably outside the state too.

The Papermill Road Trail in Lisbon was a great start for the season.  We accessed this paved path from the parking lot at the corner of Route 196 and Frost Hills Road, which also happens to be the boat launch at the confluence of the Androscoggin and Sabattus Rivers, so if you like paddling, this is a good place to put in to explore the Androscoggin.

The trail runs along side the Sabattus River for nearly 3/4 of a mile through mostly hard woods.  The first part of the trail had a slight incline, but there was only one place my son got off of his bike and walked it, and that was only for about 25 yards.  Along the way are granite benches for those looking for a quiet place to relax and reflect.

Rock hopping in the Sabattus River.

About half way up the trail on the left were a couple of well worn paths down to the Sabattus River.  The river is pretty shallow as it runs across flat rocks and a riverbed full of boulders.  This is a great place to make a game of hopping from rock to rock in the middle of the river, working your way from East bank to the West bank and back.  There was also a neat rock formation that had likely been worn away over centuries of spring thaws.

Rock shelf worn by the river

About 2/3rds the way up the trail are signs identifying the remains of the old mill that once stood along the river banks, but Ashton wasn't interested in stopping to learn more, so I can't give you any insight about that.

The first leg of the trail ended at the Lisbon Community School on Mill Street.  On this particular day there was a 5k fundraising run/walk, so the school grounds and the second leg of the bike path were quite busy.  The second leg of the trail meandered through rolling grass pastures that spread across the landscape like a beautiful green carpet.  Each leg of the trail was about .75 miles, so the round trip was about 3 miles.

The ride back down the trail from the school was all downhill, so we coasted along with little effort.  My squeaky brakes warned pedestrians of our approach and we slowly eased by people en route back to the car.

It was a great little ride for our first outing, and has us looking forward to the next bicycling adventure.