Last updated: 11/6/2020
88 Old Route One
Gouldsboro, ME 04607
PO Box 94
Gouldsboro, ME 04607
The Society holds monthly meetings on the first Monday of each month, May through October, where speakers present topics of interest concerning early residents, businesses, or specific features of the area. A listing of this year's programs can be found on our Facebook Page. In addition, the Society periodically publishes monographs related to Town history as well as an Annual Newsletter distributed to its members.
Admission to the Blance Archive is by donation and open to the public.
Free
The Town of Gouldsboro Historical Society is devoted to researching, collecting, and preserving the Town's historical material, and educating citizens about the history of our Town and region. The Society serves the community by operating the Old Town House Museum and the Blance Archive, by cooperating with schools, libraries, and local organizations, and by offering numerous events to inform and entertain the public.
2020 was going to be a busy year for the Gouldsboro Historical Society, celebrating the State of Maine's 200th Birthday! We had planned to offer our community a great series of speaker programs, present special tours and activities at our Old Town House Museum and Blance Archive, and continue our tradition of Bean Suppers
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of these events have been cancelled and the Old Town House Museum and Blance Archive are closed to the public until further notice. Once the emergency is over we will reevaluate the situation to see if any events can be rescheduled. Please check our Facebook page for updates.
The Blance Archive, housed at Society headquarters, contains numerous documents of historical interest and value to researchers: maps; photographs; town tax ledgers; personal and store ledgers; genealogical records; scrapbooks; and much more. Our genealogical section contains information on many of the early families of the area -- census records, death records, family genealogies, and cemetery transcriptions.
If you have specific inquiries about Town or Gouldsboro family history, questions about our collections, or would like to visit the Blance Archive, please contact our archivists by email.
The purposes of the Society shall be educational and cultural: to research, collect, organize, and preserve materials related to the history of the Town of Gouldsboro; to educate citizens in this history; to make this material available to the public through maintenance and development of a museum; to mark and preserve historic landmarks; to cooperate with other historical societies, libraries, archivists, and other interested groups; and to provide an active society for persons interested in furthering these purposes.
The Society was begun in 1982 by Lyda Noyes and Mary Lou Weaver as the West Gouldsboro Historical Society. They quickly discovered there was much interest throughout the whole town in preserving the history of the area. Thus, in 1983, the name of the Society was changed to the Town of Gouldsboro Historical Society and collections of papers and artifacts concerning the early history of the town were donated to the group.
The Society serves the community by operating the Old Town House Museum and the Blance Archive. The Old Town House Museum has a listing on MuseumsUSA in Gouldsboro, ME.
The Society is a 501(C)(3) and organized as permitted under Title 13-B, Maine Revised Statutes Annotated (non-profit organization) and operates from by-laws overseen by a Board of Directors. Several committees see to the running and up-keep of the Society and buildings. A curator and assistant curator are responsible for the display and handling of all collections. All staff and Board positions are non-paying.
The Society publishes its Newsletter each Spring. In it, you will find news of Society activities, articles of historical interest, and updates on the latest Museum exhibits. Society Members receive a copy in the mail. A complete archive of back issues is kept at the Museum and at the Dorcas Library.
Each year, the Society publishes a wall calendar illustrated with historic images from our town. Contact us to order a copy ($15 + s & h).
The Society publishes research collections from time to time. The most recent of these is Barns of Gouldsboro, Maine (Out of Print at present). In 1904, the Daughters of Liberty published a compilation of local history called Historical Researches of Gouldsboro Maine, which has been reprinted by the Society. There is also a free digital version available at HathiTrust.
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