Camden, Maine - Historic Resources Committee

11/09/2025

Curtis Island's 1,000-pound fog bell, first installed next to the lighthouse in 1896, is coming home! Missing since 1970 when the Coast Guard decommissioned the light station, the historic bell was tracked down two years ago in Stonington, Deer Isle, thanks to the determined efforts of the Curtis Island Lighthouse Foundation. Now, due to the extraordinary generosity of the Deer Isle Stonington Historical Society, the bell will once again ring out from its perch on the cliffs of Curtis Island in Camden harbor. Transport of the bell from Deer Isle to Camden is scheduled for the summer of 2026. (Story and photos from Pat and Michael Skaling.)

10/23/2025

In 400 seconds, Chris Friden, HRC Chair, gives the scoop on historic preservation, deconstruction and reuse... and the Godfather - check it out!

09/24/2025

Tuesday 9/30 6:30pm in the Picker Room at Camden Public Library HRC member Jennifer Gromada will walk you through how to research the history of your Town of Camden, Maine home. From the announcement: "Many people are curious about their home’s history and those who lived there in the past. If you are interested in creating a more comprehensive history of a home’s ownership, which in Camden may extend back as far as the eighteenth century, historical research can be a rewarding exercise. This presentation will guide you through a variety of steps and sources to help you discover more about the history of a specific property in Camden, its owners, and residents."

The Camden Public Library of Camden Maine

09/24/2025

Get your tickets now for the Oct. 17 Pecha Kucha Midcoast Strand Theatre - Rockland, Maine before it sells out! Featuring HRC Chair Chris Friden illustrating local historic preservation efforts and how it builds community.

PechaKucha Night, an evening of visual storytelling, celebrates the people, passion, and creativity in our community. The format is a unique presentation style where ideas and works are shared with 20-image, 20-second-per-image slideshows. Each of the evening’s presenters will provide a six minute...

08/23/2025

Saturday 8/23, 10am-3pm, in Union! Come celebrate creative reuse, historic preservation, and hands-on craftsmanship at Second Story Builders' inaugural Radical Reuse Festival & Artisan Fair!

08/11/2025

Come celebrate creative reuse, historic preservation, and hands-on craftsmanship at Second Story Builders' inaugural Radical Reuse Festival & Artisan Fair on Saturday, August 23rd from 10am-3pm in Union.

Featuring a special exhibition of work by local artists and makers using salvaged materials from Camden’s Ephraim Barrett House, alongside displays of youth-built projects from Second Story Builders’ paid summer internship program.

Free event with vendors, live music, food, and reuse-centered fun!

For details: secondstorybuilders.com/festival

06/04/2025

What an exciting and inspiring project!

At Camden Public Library we are thrilled to be collaborating with the 5th grade class at Camden-Rockport Middle School on a project to put signage in Harbor Park recognizing and honoring Wabanaki history, culture, and language. Yesterday we welcomed all 80 fifth graders and their teachers to the Picker Room, along with Mr. James Frances, Penobscot Nation's Director of Cultural and Historic Preservation, and Mr. Gabe Paul, Penobscot Nation's Language Coordinator. Alongside the students we learned more about Wabanaki lifeways, their relationships to local landscapes, and how to speak some words in Penobscot. We are excited to continue working with the students at CRMS and Wabanaki leaders to educate and celebrate the past, present, and future of the Wabanaki in midcoast Maine.

06/04/2025

On June 10th voters will determine the fate of Montgomery Dam. As we all know, Article 7 has been very contentious; there are so many conflicting sources of information and advocacy, and so many different lenses through which one can consider the issue: economics, ecology, climate resilience, archit...

03/09/2025

Reuel Robinson (1858-1927) was born in Palmyra, Maine. After graduating from Bates College he came to Camden as principal of the high school and went on to become a lawyer, judge, director of the Camden Woolen Company, editor of the Camden Herald, Postmaster, and volunteer for many civic organizations. In 1923 in the wake of two Klu Klux Klan events in Camden that drew large crowds, Robinson wrote two eloquent and impassioned editorials for the Herald, denouncing the Klan for its intolerance and brutality and urging Camden citizens to take a stand against organizations that create divisiveness on the grounds of race or religion. Photo from Bowler's Album of the Attorneys of Maine. Thanks to HRC volunteer (and former Chair) Pat Skaling for her in-depth research and writing on this Camden notable.

02/11/2025

Curtis Island Lighthouse in Camden Harbor, painted by Fitz Henry Lane in 1851, on the first of his two sailing tours in Penobscot Bay, and now owned by Yale University Art Gallery.