LITTLETON, Maine — The COVID-19 pandemic may have disrupted many travel plans or opening of locations around the state, but there is now one more place which has reopened for business — the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum.
While other museums in the area, such as the Aroostook County Historical and Art Museum in Houlton, remain closed for the summer, the Agricultural Museum reopened for business Saturday, July 11. The pandemic did, however, cause the museum to delay its opening for the season and miss several fundraisers
Debbie Melvin, one of the volunteers at the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum, points out one of the many objects on display, including the world’s largest potato basket. (Alexander MacDougall)
“We waited until they said 50 groups of people,” said Debbie Melvin, one of the volunteers at the museum who helps give guided tours, in reference to Governor Mills reopening plan which allows groups of 50 people or less. She also said that even if the museum did receive more than 50 people, they could be broken up into smaller groups around the very spacious area which makes up the museum. Other health guidelines, such as the wearing of masks, are also enforced.
The museum contains an impressive display of historical artifacts relating to the agricultural history of Aroostook, with walls covered with vintage tools such as hammers, saws and wrenches, to larger pieces of machinery used for harvesting potato crops, such as seed cutters and conveyors. Several rooms in the main building contain other types of historical objects, such as vintage typewriters, washing machines and dairy pasteurizers. One room even contains the “World’s Largest Potato Basket.”
Rows of distinctive potato bags for each of the many potato farms in Aroostook County are on display at the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum. (Alexander MacDougall)
In addition to the main building, there are several other buildings which house even more reflections of Aroostook County’s history. One building contains large farming equipment and restored horse-drawn carriages. Another is an old one-room schoolhouse restored to how it may have looked at the beginning of the 20th century. Another building replicates a general store containing many items which would have been bought there, such as a freezer filled with glass Coke bottles.
The museum was founded in 1988 by Cedric and Emily Shaw, two retired farmers from Littleton who began displaying their machinery and other farming materials that spanned three generations. In 2001 the museum moved to its current location, which formerly served as the Littleton Elementary School.
An old one-room schoolhouse as it would have appeared in the early 1900s on display at the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum in Littleton. (Alexander MacDougall)
Melvin says she hopes the museum can expand even further, and hopes to one day see a new building erected to house artifacts from old fire stations in The County.
“Every fire department has one or two things that are kind of unique,” said Melvin. “It would be great if we could get something for that.”
While the museum also has a multipurpose room for holding fundraisers and large receptions, it has been unable to do so due to the pandemic. It plans on holding a take-out turkey supper fundraiser on July 18, where customers pull up with their cars to receive a turkey supper to bring home, instead of at the museum.
