PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – Presque Isle Historical Society has recently received the donation of a very significant local Civil War artifact and is expecting the donation of another in the next week.
In August, a gentleman from New Hampshire donated a diary kept while on the battlefields of the Civil War by Harrison Robinson, a Presque Isle resident who returned home to establish a jewelry store with a fellow officer Benjamin Owens (whose Civil War sword is already owned by the Society). The handwritten diary is leather bound, measures 3” by 6”, and is 74 pages in length. It is dated from October 22, 1861, his date of enlistment, to July 14, 1866, the date he mustered out. The diary details his travels, nights on guard duty and more. The donor, Walter Holak, told the Society that his father was an avid Civil War collector. While it is not known how or where his father acquired the diary, Walter felt it was time for the diary to “come home”.
Earlier this year, an important discovery was made while demolishing an old farmhouse on the Brewer Road. Inside one of the walls of the house was another Civil War artifact. The property owner has indicated that the artifact, once restored, will be donated to the Society.
To celebrate these amazing artifacts, the Society has designed a new tour – Presque Isle Civil War Trails Tour – which will take place on Saturday, September 29 at 1:00 p.m. The two-hour, narrated tour aboard Molly the Trolley will begin at the historic fire station on Church Street, take participants to the resting places of several Presque Isle Civil War veterans to discuss their contributions to area history and include a guided ‘walk’ through the Society’s rich, Civil War exhibit at its Maysville Museum. The two new artifacts will be debuted at that time.
The Presque Isle Civil War Trails Tour will become an annual offering moving to Memorial Day beginning in 2019. Seats on the tour are limited and reservations are strongly suggested. Tickets are $10.00 per person. Reservations can be made by calling the Society at (207) 762-1151 or emailing pihistoricalsociety@hotmail.com.
The mission of Presque Isle Historical Society, a 501c3 non-profit founded in 1963, is to study, promote and preserve the history, culture, heritage and physical artifacts of Presque Isle for future and present generations. For more information on its programs or to make a tax deductible contribution, visit them on the web at www.pihistory.org.
