Readfield History Walk #21 ~ The Earliest Days on the Eastern Shore of Maranacook Lake ~ October 3, 2014

Bring a sandwich, a walking stick, and wear sturdy walking shoes. Meet at 10:00am at the home of Bob and Joan Mohlar at 339 South Rd. Walks generally take about 3 hours which includes stopping for lunch.

What I call "W Corner" is quiet and unassuming to passersby, but anyone who has researched or read Readfield's history knows this town's roots are very, very deep on this corner! In 1768 Robert Waugh established his landing and farm nearby - and that is what we hear about most often. Many people do not know that Ransford Smith came here at about the same time and lived on this corner in a primitive log cabin. Butler's History of Farmington tells us that in 1776 a party of six men came up the Kennebec River in canoes as far as Hallowell, then proceeded on foot through the sparsely settled district to Mr. Ransford Smith’s log cabin. Those men were on their way to survey and plot out the wilderness on Sandy River that would one day become Farmington. 

As today's motorists round the corner from Beaver Rook onto South Road they do not realize they are on the very spot where the 1791 town meeting was held, at Henry Wyman's house, when townspeople voted to separate from Winthrop.

Samuel White settled on this very corner early on as well, and one of his daughters married Josiah Whittier. Thus the Whittiers became firmly planted on this corner for another 150+ years. Many members of these families are buried in the nearby Whittier Cemetery. 

The old Whittier cemetery sits back from the road and catches little attention. On this history walk we will venture to and feel the echoes of history there. Then, we will meander down a nearby camp road to see perhaps the largest and most majestic Pine trees you will ever see! And, along that shore walkers will learn about and see what some believe to be the oldest cottage on the lake - where people from the theater in New York once summered, among others.
And why do I call this "W Corner"? It was on this corner that four of our earliest settlers homesteaded - Waugh, Whittier, White and Wyman. Come and join us - you will learn so much more and enjoy a wonderful walk with an invigorating group of people!