Is this the oldest house in town? 

The Foss/ Coolidge house at the intersection of 106 and 219 at Fosses Corner was reportedly built in 1786 by Uriah Foss.  He erected a log cabin for his family and hiked 40 miles to the Bath Shipyard to earn money for the construction of a sturdier home.

He blazed a trail to find his way and returned monthly to his home near the Dead River.  Fifth generation Evelyn Coolidge still occupies the house.

       Agenda:

Treasurer’s report:

Secretary’s report:                   

Old business:

q       Painting update

q       Boston Post Cane update

q       Bicentennial t-shirts 3 med, 2 xl

q       Pat Flewelling: complete non profit status

New business 

q       Next meeting House inventory work March 6, 2002

q       List of committees for upcoming year

q       We have a ton of odds and ends if we get to it

Historical notes: 

The Androscoggin Historical Society is organizing a group called the Androscoggin Round Table.  It looks like they will have a lot of educational programs valuable to history buffs as well as an opportunity to share information with other towns.  The first meeting will be at the Androscoggin Historical Society at the County Building on Thursday Feb 14, at 10:00AM.  It is free and open to the public.

We have looked at the Boston Post cane from other towns.  Ours appears quite consistent with theirs but the metal head is in rather bad shape and probably not reasonably repaired.

The Wayne 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grade students are working on a project to gather history about the Cape area of Androscoggin lake.  Stories or information would be gladly welcomed by this group.  Contact Theresa Kerchner 685-9604.

Norman Lane gave the town a painting done by Mary Stanton House in approximately 1850.  The Wayne Historical Society has been researching the history of this painting and it is interesting indeed.  Ms. House’s father was a British soldier who stayed after the War of 1812 and built a business in Winthrop that manufactured boot webbing.  He became quite wealthy for his time.  There was a sister who also painted and some of these paintings are still in existence.

We continue to receive pictures.  The last group is from Allen Merrill, a few are of Leeds Center stores, one is of Lizzie Fitch and Will Burgess.  We welcome all such donations and will be happy when we have a place to make them available to the public for research.  Anyone who knows of a “home” for us at a “nominal price”, let us know.

We continue to seek information, pictures and stories about the occupants of our old homes as well.

The areas and their coordinators are:

q       Elizabeth Murphy and Shirley Pettingill:     Curtis Corner, Keene’s Corner, 202, Roger Sumner Road, Plains Road, Alden Road, and 106 from 202 to Quaker Ridge Road.

q       Connie Buckley and Thelma Waite:  106 from Quaker Ridge to Dead River, Jennings road, Bernie Hartford Road, Bishop Hill Road, Church Hill Road to and including the former Roy Turner place.

q       Louise Sanders and Allan Perkins:  Campbell Road, North Road and Church Hill Road from the former Bill Daly home to the intersection of River Road and Church Hill Road

q       Ian Ormon and Ricky Jennings:  Quaker Ridge road, Church Hill Road from the Alfred McNear place to the Leeds line

q       Tanya Hanson and Marilyn Burgess:  River Road, Fish Street, Woodman Road, Church Hill Road from the intersection of River Road to Allen Stream Bridge, River Trail, 219 from Fish Street to Twin bridges.

q       We currently have no one in this district:  219 from Dead River Bridge to Wayne line, 106 from Riverbend campground to 219, Campground road, 106 from Fosses’ Corner to the Livermore Falls line.

Anyone who would like to work on this project in some capacity, give us a call at 524-5933.  We will be meeting March 6, 2001 at the town house at 7:00 PM to discuss the project further.  All who are interested are welcome to attend