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Over 130 years of preservation and study of
Kennebec County history (1891-Present)
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Upcoming October Programs
"Moving Pictures of the 30's"
In front of the Belgrade Hotel
Frank Chandler was born in Belgrade, Maine in 1890, a member of the
4th generation of Chandlers in Belgrade. During the mid to late 1930s Frank made many 8mm films of everyday happenings. The Belgrade Historical
Society has a collection of his moving pictures. There were many notations
in local newspapers of Frank showing his moving pictures at the Grange and other venues. Some of these moving pictures will be shown including a visit
to Water St in Augusta, the aftermath of the flood of 1936 in Gardiner, and
a circus at the Belgrade Hotel along with farm and social life. An interesting
and fun look back to the 30’s.
The Chandler family have deep roots in Belgrade; at one time Belgrade
Lakes was called Chandler’s Mills, later changing to Belgrade Mills and
then to Belgrade Lakes.
KHS presenter, Sharon Young Nadeau grew up in Sidney, studied
Criminal Justice at UMA and took employment there a few days after graduating. For the next 42 years she remained employed within the
University of Maine System. After settling into retirement she got involved
with the Belgrade Historical Society, followed by her brother Cliff tugging
her into the Sidney Historical Society. Currently, she is President at
Belgrade Historical and Secretary at Sidney Historical.
The Kennebec Historical Society presentation is free to the public (donations
are gladly accepted) and will take place at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 15,
at Augusta City Center, located at 16 Cony Street in Augusta. If you have questions about the program, call Scott Wood, executive director, at 622-7718.
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Special KHS Program
Tuesday, October 28
“The Kennebec Trading and Mining Company in the
California Gold Rush”
A group of Mainers from the lower Kennebec Valley formed a collaborative called the Kennebec Trading and Mining Company. In late March 1849,
they headed out west to seek their fortunes in the California goldfields. Ron
Kley will talk about the company October 28 and provide a list of its members and the Kennebec County hometowns to which they are connected. The program will also include a general overview of the gold rush.
A third-grade teacher inspired Kley to start collecting local rock and
mineral specimens, and by the time he got to college, he was a geology
major specializing in mineralogy, ore minerals, and mining. After graduation,
he continued his studies in mining geology, earning a master's degree and
aiming for a doctorate. Kley had a summer job lined up with a Canadian
mining company that went bankrupt; but luckily, he found a job with the
Boston Children's Museum, organizing its rock and mineral collections.
Kley eventually was hired as a staff member of the newly created Maine
State Museum and remained there for 20 years. After that, along with a
former State Museum colleague, he went into business as a museum
consultant and contractor, working with clients throughout North America
and in Europe, Africa, and Australia. For the past 20 years, Kley has worked
as a curator and archivist at the Vaughan Homestead in Hallowell.
This Kennebec Historical Society presentation is free to the public
(donations are gladly accepted) and will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 28, at Augusta City Center, located at 16 Cony Street in Augusta.
For details, call Scott Wood, executive director, at 622-7718.
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Encore Presentation:
"Augusta's Memorial Bridge"
Footings for the Memorial Bridge in Augusta.
Please call (207) 620-1195 to register for the talk.
The Kennebec Historical Society’s presentation for October offers an
in-depth look at the 1948-49 construction of Memorial Bridge in Augusta through a collection of historical photographs from the KHS archive. The prominent landmark, which turned 75 years old last year, was named in honor
of local veterans. It is a critical link between the city’s east and west sides,
which are divided by the Kennebec River. The images shown during the lecture will give viewers insight into the engineering challenges, design decisions, and community involvement that shaped the bridge. This presentation highlights technical aspects of the creation of the bridge and its cultural significance.
The program was originally presented back in March through Facebook Live.
The lecture’s presenter, KHS Archivist and Librarian Emily Schroeder, of
South China, was born in Augusta and spent most of her life in Thomaston before graduating from the University of Maine Portland-Gorham (now the University of Southern Maine) in 1978. She worked at the Maine State Library from 1980 to 2018, becoming a reference librarian in 1988 after earning her Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of
Rhode Island. Another chapter in her story opened in 2007 when she took on the duties of genealogy specialist and began teaching classes statewide
regularly in that field. She started the library’s genealogy club and added an online genealogy newsletter. From May 2011 to February 2012, she wrote
the monthly column “Untangling Your Family Roots” for Augusta’s Capital Weekly newspaper. She serves on the society’s Board of Directors as the administrative vice president, and she is the co-chairwoman of the KHS Collections Committee and a member of the Personnel and Program committees. She also chairs the Maine Genealogical Society’s Event
Committee, and she is the China Historical Society secretary.
Schroeder’s presentation, free to the public (with donations gladly accepted),
will take place at 10 a.m. Wednesday, October 29, at the Cohen Community Center located at 22 Town Farm Road in Hallowell.
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KENNEBEC CLASSIC 2025
Tennis Tournament
The annual tournament happened over the weekend
and below are a few images!
Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:
Quality Copy, Inc.
McKee Morgan, LLC, PA
A-1 Seamless Gutters
Shaw & Son Outdoor Maintenance, LLC
and
Connected Credit Union
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Discovering, preserving, and disseminating
Kennebec County history
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KHS is located in Maine's Capital City ... in
historic Kennebec Valley at
Henry Weld Fuller, Jr. House
107 Winthrop Street
Augusta, ME
Click the "donate" button below to join KHS or make a donation. Please be sure to explain what the amount is for in the "Add special instructions to seller" section.
Thank you!
READING ROOM
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
10am-3pm
Tuesday through Thursday
APPOINTMENTS PREFERRED
If unable to visit during our open hours, please call for an appointment.
Phone:
(207)
622-7718
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 5582
Augusta, Maine 04332-5582
Those unable to visit us may send questions to our email:
kennhis1891@gmail.com
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