What They Left Behind

This Week in Lincolnville

Sun, 06/21/2026 - 3:00pm

The Schoolhouse Museum, where our history is preserved. (Photo by Ed O’Brien)

The bottle found in the woods behind the chicken house. (Photo by Ed O’Brien)

The Schoolhouse Museum, where our history is preserved. (Photo by Ed O’Brien)

The bottle found in the woods behind the chicken house. (Photo by Ed O’Brien)

This home where I grew up and continue to live is old. Not by any stretch among the oldest in this little town, and far from the finest, the most opulent. Just an old farmhouse and barn, extensively added to, expanded and modernized over the last 150 years. A place where farming was once attempted, evidenced by the old rock walls hidden in the trees that border the back pasture. Where my own parents raised a series of dairy cows, a few pigs, and goats once upon a time. Turkeys, chickens, terrifying hissing geese, and an old gray pony. We only do laying hens now, the latest batch of babies recently transferred to the house for adolescent birds.

There is history here. Not the fancy history of upscale antiques, revered architecture, and famous people who slept here. Just the history of the land and a dwelling where life has been lived for a long time.

If you find yourself in a place that has been occupied for a long while in Lincolnville you know that our forebears were not known for being tidy with their household garbage. If you know where to look, most old places have trash mounds nearby. Most notably at this old place is the old car that lies behind the chicken houses, its rusting body entwined in trees and vines, parts of the engine still buried among the roots. It was probably driven out and abandoned north of 70 years ago. When I was a kid, there were still the remnants of seats, of glass in the windows. Now it looks like the shell of a prehistoric turtle, a brown/orange dome beneath the leaves.

My wife was teaching my youngest child how to use the small battery powered chainsaw yesterday, clearing out blowdowns, when they came upon a pristine glass bottle. One Quart in raised letters along the side. Maybe this key word and its location nearby that old car led them to assume in was an ancient bottle for motor oil. I looked at label in the front; an image of a man in a top hat, with the words Mr. Boston, all in raised script. The liquid once contained within was definitely not motor oil, and says something about the drinking habits of the former occupants of Sleepy Hollow. It is a very cool bottle.

I believe my mother once put together an exhibit of things found around this old place for the Schoolhouse Museum. Patent medicine bottles, part of a porcelain set of dentures, a simple gold wedding band. Remains of lives lived long ago.

It is always important to remember that the European setters of Lincolnville were not the first, and those who lived here over a much longer period of time also left physical evidence. The native peoples of the area also had trash mounds, piles of sea shells, maybe with a few bones and old stone tools. There was once one on the shore between Ducktrap and Lincolnville Beach, but I believe it has since been reclaimed by the ocean. If you do ever come upon one of these much older trash middens, leave it alone, allow professionals to determine what to do with it, if anything.

There is certainly an exhibit of native artifacts from the area at the Schoolhouse Museum. Which leads me to my original idea for this article, before getting sidetracked, the Lincolnville Historical Society’s museum is opening back up for the summer. Its schedule this year will be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 1-4 p.m. at 33 Beach Road. Expect some new displays, including weaving and spinning, as well as a wedding dress from the late 1800s now on display.

The Schoolhouse Museum leans heavily on the lives of ordinary men and women who made their way in this little town, simple, relatable history. Admission is free, donations are always gratefully accepted.

Remembering Ben Hardy

Ben’s family would like to let their neighbors know that there will be a celebration of life for Ben Hardy on June 28 at 2 p.m. at the family farm, 465 Youngtown Road. Ben’s ancestral roots in this town are deep, but it was the man I grew to know’s love of Lincolnville in the twenty first century that matters, and why he will be missed.

Library Happenings

The library will be open Tuesday from 3-6 p.m. Wednesday will be a special program at 6:30 p.m. Maine’s Winged Wonders, a photographic journey into the remarkable lives of wild species on the wing. Cribbage for Everyone will be held Thursday at 3 p.m., and Mahjongg will by Friday at noon.

Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon will be the car boot sale at the Library. Find a deal in the parking lot then step into the library to find your summer read.

VBS at Bayshore Baptist

The Bayshore Baptist is offering Vacation Bible School this upcoming week, June 28 through July 2 from 5-8 p.m. Open to youth ages 5 to 12, each evening will begin with a home cooked meal, followed music, games, activities, and Bible teachings.

The theme this year is Emerald Crossing: An Irish Adventure Through Psalm 23. Register online here.

Be well, Lincolnville. Enjoy the warm breezes, but don’t neglect the firewood for too long. We will need it again before we know it. Reach out at ceobrien246@gmail.com.

Municipal Calendar

Monday, June 22

School House Museum open, 1-4 p.m., 33 Beach Road

School Board, 6 p.m., Town Office

Tuesday, June 23

Library open 3-6 p.m. 208 Main Street

AA Meeting 12:15 p.m., Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road

Lakes and Ponds Committee, 7 pm., Town Office

Wednesday, June 24

School House Museum open, 1-4 p.m., 33 Beach Road

Library open 2-5

Planning Board, 6 p.m., Town Office