Tucked away in the top floor of the Androscoggin County Building at the corner of Turner and Court streets in Auburn are bits and pieces of local history.
Photos, records, statues, medals, old currency, dolls, hats, swords and hundreds of other artifacts are in storage or on display at the Androscoggin Historical Society Library and Museum.
The mission of the society is to discover, preserve and disseminate the history of Androscoggin County and the state of Maine. Since 1923, the society has been preserving and promoting the long, rich history of the county. Its Clarence E. March Library has extensive holdings in local history and genealogy, while the Davis-Wagg Museum is filled with artifacts of local historical significance and interest.
A small group of volunteers and staff maintains the facility and helps visitors. The society is open, free of charge, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 4:30 p.m. and Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m.
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- One of several displays of ribbons and medals at the Androscoggin Historical Society in Auburn.
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- A statue of a Civil War soldier.
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- A bucket of scrapbooks sits on the floor, brought in by a local resident who acquired them after a family member passed away.
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- This is one of several bills in a display of local currency at the Androscoggin Historical Society in Auburn.
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- Lewiston historian Douglas Hodgkin, past president of the Androscoggin Historical Society, thinks these plaster sculptures by American John Rogers (1829-1904) came from Jordan Junior High when it was closed in the late ’70s. They sit on a shelf in the library at the Androscoggin Historical Society in Auburn.
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- One of several displays of bottles — for holding medicines, elixirs, extracts and booze — sits in a locked case at the Androscoggin Historical Society.
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- Tokens for the first bus service in Lewiston-Auburn are on display.
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- A handmade bird cage, more than 100 years old, sits next to the last crank phone used in the United States, originally from Bryant Pond, Maine. A portrait of Josiah Little is on display. Little at one time owned much of Lewiston after buying most of the shares of the Pejepscot Proprietors. He also was the father of Edward Little.
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- In the late 1800s it was the norm to have a bronze statue, like this Civil War bugler, on display in many homes in the area. This one sits atop a cabinet filled with swords and other artifacts from the Civil War.
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- A firefighting apparatus once used at the Bates Mill stands on display at the entrance of the Androscoggin Historical Society.
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- One of the numerous items hanging on the walls at the Androscoggin Historical Society in Auburn.
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