“Discover History Month,” at Camden

Rockport Harbor ice sheds. Photo taken about 1898. The ice and lime industries in Rockport were destroyed in 1907 when a fire at the lime kilns swept across the harbor to the ice sheds. Ice was packed for storage in sawdust. This caught fire, burning so quickly the sheds were destroyed yet leaving the ice blocks relatively intact. Ships tied at the docks were burnt to the waterline.

January Exhibit Features Archival Photos from History Center
In celebration of the library’s “Discover History Month,” during January the Camden Public Library will exhibit a collection of archival photographs from the collection in the library’s Walsh History Center. The exhibit is a collaborative display of historical photographs, objects, and maps related to our midcoast area, with historical photos from Lincolnville, Camden, and Rockport. The photos show the industry of bygone days, in particular the fishing, shipping, quarrying, lime, and ice industries. There is also a display of kitchen gadgetry from centuries past, provided by the Camden-Rockport Historical Society.

English charts of the Penobscot, “Published according to an Act of Parliament, Aug^st 17^th 1776.”

Heather Bilodeau with a – well, what is it? – primitive cast-iron food processor, part of the display of kitchen implements on loan from the Camden Rockport Historical Society.

The Lake City Hotel was a popular destination near Barrett’s Cove on Megunticook Lake. Travelers on the old Turnpike Road (now Rt. 52) could dine or stay here overnight, enjoying the cool air and expansive views of the lake.

Quarrying limerock at Jacob’s Quarry, circa 1890.

Steamship Katahdin moored at the Eastern Steamship Company wharf at the end of Sea Street in Camden, Maine circa 1880. Beginning with the Maine in 1823, the steamships (known locally as “the Boston boat”) carried goods and passengers from Boston up the coast to Bangor with many stops in between. Leaving Boston at 5:00 pm, the ship arrived in Camden promptly at 7:30 am.

     During the frigid winter of 1917, Penobscot Bay froze over and people could walk from Lincolnville to Islesboro on the ice. Eight steamers were stranded for days in Camden harbor. The final trip was made by the Belfast on December 27, 1935.

     Deemed a hazard to navigation, the steamship wharf was burned in 1959.

Recipe for skinning a skunk from 1866 cookbook, “What to Eat and How to Cook It Containing Over One Thousand Receipts [sic]”