We thank Karlene Osborne, Tom Osborne, and Bruce Larrabee for setting up, tending, and dismantling the displays and the Scarborough Historical Society tent at Scarborough Summerfest 2022. Also, we thank those who stopped by to learn about the Society, purchased items from the store, and donated to the Beech Ridge Schoolhouse
Project and the Museum.
Karlene Osborne and the setup at Summerfest 2022.
Photo by Tom Osborne.
Beech Ridge School Renovation is progressing nicely. The team added a Mento membrane and strapping for the siding to be attached. The windows have been installed and framed.
Beech Ridge School – 13 Aug 2022 – Photo by Karlene Osborne.
Framed window & strapping detail.
Photo by Karlene Osborne
To donate to help this historical renovation, please see our GoFundMe page.
Work is continuing at the Beech Ridge School Renovation. The old siding has been removed. Some of the wall sheathings were replaced with wide boards. They are now reframing the windows and will install a Mento membrane on outside walls before nailing strapping to hold the siding. Windows will go in next.
Front outside view of Schoolhouse, July 21, 2022.
Photo by Karlene Osborne.
To donate to help this historical renovation, please see our GoFundMe page.
I added the 1970 Scarborough Business Directory – by Scarborough Jaycees
I digitized, OCRed, and added: Class of 1953 – Scarborough Grammar Schools Graduation Exercises, June 11, 1953 – Oak Hill & Dunstan, “America’s Musical Heritage”
I digitized, OCRed, and added: Commencement Exercises of Class of 1954 – Scarborough High School (Includes Graduation Program, Class Ode, NHS, Class Roll, & more.
I digitized, OCRed, and added: Commencement Exercises of Class of 1958 – Scarborough High School (Includes Graduation Program, Class Ode, NHS, Class Roll, & more.
I digitized, OCRed, and added: The Historic Houses of Scarborough, compiled by Charlotte G. Stevens. It includes short descriptions and photos of 35 homes and buildings in Scarborough.
I added a category Jaycees and added the 1970 Scarborough [Jaycees] Business Directory
I posted Linda Snow-McLoon’s article, Remembering Dorothy Shaw Libbey
1826 Letter to Miss Almira Tilton.
I added: 70.14.17.e – Letter: Dated 17 May to M F Tilton from her sister in Roxbury, MA7 – Four Pages: Page 1 – Page 2 – Page 3 – Page 4.
I added: 70.14.17.f – Letter: Dated 17 May (c. 1840s) to M F Tilton ℅ James McLaughlin, Esq., Bangor ME – Four Pages: Page 1 – Page 2 – Page 3 – Page 4.
I added: 70.14.17.h – Letter: Dated Nov – 1826 to Miss Almira Tilton – Twenty Pages – ZIP File.
I scanned the 1810 Scarborough Tax Valuation Book and uploaded it to Digital Maine. This copy includes the names of the heads of households and what they paid in taxes. Originally compiled by Reuben Seavey and dated 23 July 1810. Who created this copy is unknown, but it was probably copied in the late 1800s or the early 1900s. (Note: This booklet needs indexing and/or transcribing. If you are interested in indexing this book, please contact [encode link=”mailto:scarboroughhist@gmail.com”] the Scarborough Historical Society[/encode] by email.)
A 1963 news clipping shows Dorothy Shaw Libbey and historical society president Percy Wright inspecting a scroll presented to her by town selectmen to honor her historical work.
From the SHS collections
Over the years a number of individuals have made major contributions toward preserving Scarborough’s history, but no one has done more toward saving our past for future generations than Dorothy Shaw Libbey. Long before she and her husband Clarke Libbey helped found the Scarborough Historical Society in 1961, Dorothy was working hard to research and chronicle Scarborough’s past. She was the first to hold the title of Historian for the historical society.
Born in 1907, Dorothy could trace her Scarborough family roots to Joseph Waterhouse of Portsmouth, NH, who married Mary Libby of Kittery before they established a home in Scarborough in 1730. She became fascinated with old manuscripts and the early wills of old settlers, and she studied epitaphs on cemetery gravestones. Dorothy spent endless hours before the time of computers hand-copying early municipal, church, and cemetery records. Testimony to her dedicated work were the 40 cartons of her historical material that were brought to the historical society after her passing in 1989.
Dorothy Shaw Libbey’s crowning achievement was her book, Scarborough Becomes a Town, which was published in 1955. Covering events from 1625 to 1850, the book describes the gathering of 29 men from Black Point, Blue Point, and Stratton’s Island on July 14, 1658, to formally create a town where records would be kept, courts convened, and taxes paid under the protection of the government of Massachusetts Bay. The lives of the early settlers, their homes, the introduction of slavery, the schools, and the town’s role in the American Revolution are all covered in her book.
A valuable service Dorothy performed was transcribing the records of both the Black Point and Dunstan cemeteries. She and her husband also drew a map locating many of the smaller family burying grounds in Scarborough.
We certainly owe Dorothy Shaw Libbey a debt of thanks for the extensive efforts she put into preserving Scarborough’s history.
[Editor’s Note:] This article was originally published in the May/June 2022 issue of Owascoag Notes.
