Author Archives: Don Taylor

Updates June 2025

Library Middle Room Tax Valuation Books “Explore the Scarborough Valuation Books to uncover property and personal wealth details of residents and non-residents from Scarborough’s past. A valuable genealogy and local history resource, fully indexed for easy searching; many of the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Updates June 2025

Scarborough Town Farm Cemetery

Ron Romano’s The Graves of Scarborough’s Paupers: The Town Farm Cemetery, 1867–1891 offers a moving, thoroughly researched account of Scarborough’s 19th-century approach to caring for its poorest citizens. When the town purchased the Brackett Farm in 1867, it became a … Continue reading

Posted in Cemeteries, History, Notable Papers & Presentations, Scarborough History, Social Welfare & Poor Relief | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Scarborough Town Farm Cemetery

Letting Out the Poor

Ron Romano’s Letting Out the Poor uncovers the mid-19th-century system of poor relief in Scarborough, Maine, through the logbook of Ebenezer Libby, Overseer of the Poor from 1857–1867. The paper explains how impoverished residents were “let out” to townspeople—essentially placed in homes where … Continue reading

Posted in 19th Century Maine, History, Notable Papers & Presentations, Presentations, Scarborough History, Social Welfare & Poor Relief | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Clam Man of the Spurwink: Ivory Kilborn’s Shoreline Legacy

The Life of a Clam Digger on the Spurwink By Alfred Elden [Written for the Lewiston Journal.] Just before coming to ‘Mitchell’s erstwhile famous roadhouse, on the popular Cape Shore Drive a house closed, this year, but noted for half … Continue reading

Posted in Clamming and Lobstering, Scarborough History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Clam Man of the Spurwink: Ivory Kilborn’s Shoreline Legacy

The McCullum (Hunnewell) House: Scarborough’s Red House and Its Legacy

Sitting at the triangle of Black Point Rd, Winnocks Neck Rd, and Old County Rd, the historic McCullum (Hunnewell) House—also known as the “Red House”—holds a special place in the town’s story. Believed to be one of the oldest houses … Continue reading

Posted in Genealogy, Homes, Scarborough History | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The McCullum (Hunnewell) House: Scarborough’s Red House and Its Legacy