19th Century Willowbrook Village was an open-air museum encompassing a former 19th-century village in Newfield, Maine. It is located north of the town center on Elm Street, on approximately 10 acres (4.0Â ha), with 34Â buildings. It was open 10Â a.m. to 5Â p.m., 5Â days each week from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through October, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Much of the museum property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Newfield (Willowbrook) Historic District.
Description and history
Willowbrook Village is located just south of Chellis Brook, and north of the village center. It includes a mill pond that was made by damming the brook, and a collection of buildings located both north and south of the pond. This area was the historic town center of Newfield, until the area was devastated by a wildfire in 1947, which did extensive damage in this area of York County.
In the 1960s Massachusetts resident Don King began purchasing the properties surrounding the mill pond, and began restoring the buildings and other artifacts he had accumulated. The museum opened on May 1, 1970.
On October 10, 2016, 19th Century Willowbrook Village closed permanently after struggling with costs for many years. It occasionally hosts winter classes and ice activities.
Collections
One of the main buildings in the museum collection is its general store, a fine Greek Revival structure with a meeting hall on the second floor. Another is the mill building, which sits astride the brook; it was built about 1890 and was used as to make wooden shingles and boxes.
Other buildings in the collection include a printing shop, one room schoolhouse, and two historic barns. Also in the collection is an 1894 Armitage-Herschell carousel, an 1849 Concord coach, and an extensive carriage and sleigh collection.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in York County, Maine
References
External links
- Official website
