19th Century Curran Village, Orrington & Holden, Maine

Earth Day Program at 19^th Century Curran Village

Saturday, April 20, 2024

1. Stained Glass-esque Window Hangers or Bookmarkers (with Genevieve Schmick in the Letterpress Office): Using old fashioned wax paper, crayon shavings, paraffin wax, and dried flowers and plants will be sandwiched between two sheets using an iron. The heat from the iron melts the waxes to seal in the contents making translucent art. This was a school art project back in the 60s and 70s, maybe earlier.
2. Scavenger Hunt (Get the list when you enter the Sugar Shack). Locate all the items on the list. This involves interaction with the rest of the visitors as you will need to ask questions about what things are and where they might be. If you have the capability snap a photo of the items that you have located and send us a digital copy: thecurranhomestead@gmail.com we would greatly appreciate this and share your photos on our website and Facebook page.
3. Letterpress Printing (with Jeff Buxton and Zoe): Experience using a proof press and printing some illustration cuts for you to take home as souvenirs.
4. Birdhouse Building at the Carpenter Shop (Alden Miller): Use some basic woodworking tools. Use a hand powered drill press, bit and brace, and hammer and nails. Volunteer Alden Miller has made two dozen birdhouse kits for you to assist him in assembling. Ideally, we would like to put these up all over Curran Village so we can observe bird activity. There are not enough kits to give these away, but we may award a few to our younger and happy builders.
5. Planting Apple Trees (Bob Schmick and Zachary Platt). These trees started out as seedlings that were grafted by us during our first tree grafting workshop. They have been growing at the Director’s house in Bangor for a few years as there are many deer at Curran Village that would like to eat these tender morsels up. That is why we have such a tall fence for the even smaller apple tree seedlings so that deer cannot reach them. We will create some fencing after the event to protect these 6 trees, but we will plant them together during the event on the hill to the right of the Post Office.
6. Tree Grafting in front of Curran’s old Icehouse (Nate Coe & Zachary Platt): We have 30 root stocks that we will graft scions to during the event with your help. Last year we did 60 and almost all the grafts took. The seedlings are thriving in the tall fence enclosure behind the Post Office. Eventually we will transplant these and create an apple orchard that both complements our Cider Mill and provides apples for cooking, baking and eating. See our 1870s Cider Press and Grinder in the Mustard Color Barn down the way.
7. 1905 Economy Engine with Cord Saw, Clark Foundry, Rumford, Maine Wood splitters, and our 1917 Ford Model T Cord Saw (Cal McGraw): We will have machines running from another era. We burn wood in stoves at the Museum, and some of these machines assist in this work.
8. Live Steam Power (Richard Lizotte): Learn about steam power by watching. This working replica vertical boiler steam traction engine was built in the 1960s by the late Lloyd Holland of Corinth. When asked why he built he answered, “because I could.”  The steam traction engine sat in a barn for some time and was purchased for the museum by a Board member. Richard got it going again by insulating the boiler to reduce the amount of time it takes to get it up to steam. The tractor will drive up and down the Village Road and visitors should watch from a safe distance when it’s operating, but you can examine and talk with the operator while he is preparing it to go.
9. Ice Cream at the Country Store (Volunteers Pat Caluori and Sister Val): Volunteers will be making ice cream at the Country Store for you to try with some of our Maple Syrup if you like.
10. Food in the Farmhouse (Volunteers Keith & Heather Bowden, Lauren Platt and others; Curran’s wood cook stove maintained by Zachary and Bob) A plate of food purchased with your entrance ticket; seconds and thirds may be available later in the day. All the food was prepared by volunteers; please let us know if you can contribute to our next event).
11. Baked Bean with Pork
12. Chili
13. Hot Dogs & Hamburgers
14. Kraut Kuchen (Cabbage and Bacon or Onion & Bacon Savory Pastry)
15. Bottled Water
16. Strudel (Strawberry & Strawberry Rhubarb)
17. Other donated desserts

18. Music in the Farmhouse (The River Jammers: Doug Alley, Mark Burtt, Jim Bradley, Connor McLeod and Angie and Donnie Glidden). The Band will perform from 11AM-1PM. The band volunteers their talent to benefit the Curran Village.

19. Blacksmithing: With volunteers Elena Sparrow, Jeff Fenn, David Terry and others. Ask our director for information about getting into one of our frequent blacksmithing workshops.

20. John Boyce and his team of Belgian Draft Horses. Ride a horse drawn wagon around the Village.

21. Our 1894 Armitage Herschell Riding Gallery (Horse Carousel). Purchased mail order by Ivory Fenderson of Saco, Maine in 1894 this “portable” “Merry-Go-Round” took two years to arrive from the factory in Tonawanda, NY. Fenderson ran this carousel at fairs and other gatherings from 1896-1922 when it was retired to a barn. In the 1970s the carousel was offered to Willowbrook Museum in Newfield, Maine (York Co.). The Museum restored it and offered limited rides on it starting in 1991. The building that houses it was built in Newfield and was relocated by Nickerson & O’Day in 2021. The carousel itself was taken apart by staff and volunteers and packed in two tractor trailers and relocated to Curran Village. It was re-assembled and became operational again in 2022.

22. We are looking for volunteers. Let us know if you can help. We are a non-profit that depends on private donations and volunteer help to continue to share New England heritage. Call: 207-205-4849 or 207-745-4426 or email us at: thecurranhomestead@gmail.com. Sign up on our Sign-Up Sheet to receive updates on events, programs, and other offerings.

Saturday, April 20, 10AM-3PM, Earth Day Event. Lots of food choices, including Vegetarian baked beans, Pork & Beans, Chili, Hot Dogs, with Coney Island Sauce, if you like, Kraut Kuchen ( Volga German bacon & cabbage pastry), Strudels, Ice Cream with our own maple syrup, Newly donated wood splitters, Live steam wooden burning traction engine, hit and miss gas engines (a 1919 Fairbank-Morse 5 HP), A Cord Saw with a circa 1905 Economy gas engine performs, Blacksmithing ongoing ( we have frequent classes and this demo is with former students ), our 1917 Ford Model T Depot Hack will be running, a team of Belgian draft horses will be giving wagon rides, try one of our proof presses at the Whig & Courier Letterpress Office ( Meet Jeff Buxton whose family ran the Bucksport [Maine] Free Press for several generations; we were given both type, cuts, etc., and a Chandler & Price Letterpress from the establishment), Crank a vintage Ice Cream Maker, Learn to graft apple tree scions with Nate Coe ( last year we grafted 60 apple trees with heritage varieties [ Oxford Black, Gray Pearlmain, Gravenstein, Spitzenburg, and more,..). This year we will transplant 6 apple trees that have been nurtured at Director Bob Schmick’s house in Bangor for a number of years out of of fear of deer. There are another 30 trees to be dug up in Bangor if there are volunteers next year. In sum, we have 95 trees started for Curran’s own orchard to complement its 1870s cider mill. Fencing is key to survival. Please volunteer to build more deer-proof fencing for the apple orchard). There will be wax paper stained glass-esque book marker and window hangers making going on with dried flowers from the Curran Farm, a scavenger hunt for kids, There’s a lot more going on… Admission is an all-included price; $12 Adults, Ages 12-18: $6, and 11 and Under: Free.

If you haven’t been in the blacksmithing shop at 19th Century Curran Village you might be surprised to see this newly installed coal forge seen here. This forge came up from the former Willowbrook Museum (in Newfield, ME) in recent years and has been sitting unused in the relocated Tom Flagg Smithy, the small 1935 smithy that Tom Flagg built when he was 17 years old on the Davenport Farm (later the Flagg Farm) in Lincolnville Beach, ME. Tom also built this forge from scratch cutting out plates of heavy steel with an acetylene torch and then welding them together. The hand crank bellows was purchased used by Tom and always leaked oil like a sieve according to Jane Flagg, one of Tom’s three daughters who donated the smithy and its contents to Willowbrook ( it was initially offered to Curran but we had already built the new blacksmith shop in 2009). According to Jane one of her childhood chores was to put the oil to that bellows when her father was forging otherwise it would become a real chore to crank. We will be setting up as large Buffalo Forge in the Flagg Smithy that belonged to the late Larry Cook of Meriden, CT, who was a armorer producing Civil War replica swords, rifles and cannons. Cook’s Machine Shop forms the core of equipment in our Machine Shop that awaits volunteer help to get into working order to use it. How about volunteer some time to this project?

We have two blacksmithing classes scheduled.

Friday Night, April 12, 2024, 6-9PM, Coal Fired Forging (Blacksmithing) Learn the foundational skills of coal fired forging including making a coal fire, safety, and hammering techniques. You will complete several projects including J and S hooks. If you decide to the following Saturday and Sunday knife making class we will deduct $15 from the fee for this class ( the Two Day Weekend Knifemaking Workshop is $325). The cost of this 3 hour class is $65. Ages 15 and older. To register, call: 207-205-4849.

Saturday & Sunday, April 13 & 14, 2024, 9AM-4PM, Two Day Weekend Knifemaking Workshop ( Blacksmithing). This a start to finish knife making class. You will begin with a billet of 1095 steel and shape a blade and handle tang through the use of a propane burning forge. You will further shape and refine your blade sanding it to perfection. You will reheat your blade and quench it in peanut oil as the first part of the tempering process. The blade will be heated again in an oven tom complete the temper. Day 2 will include work on completing a handle comprised on brass rivets, hardwood scales and fast drying epoxy. You can put a finish on your knife. You need to bring a bag lunch. You need natural fiber clothing and footwear, safety glasses with side shields, gloves and earplugs (optional), and a 2.5 lb. or 3 lb. pein or drilling style hammer. Cost: $325 Call to register: (207) 205-4849.

was the greatest attendance in a single day event in the history of the museum. More than 450 visitors experienced our sugaring off activities in the old Sugar Shack. There was lots of food choices in the Curran farmhouse including homemade waffles with our own maple syrup drizzled over them. At the Country Store visitors participated in ice cream making; the product was also served maple syrup. We had a coal fired blacksmithing workshop underway in the Smithy with Dwight King, our resident blacksmith. There was a demonstration of old machinery including a 1906 Economy gas engine running a cord saw mounted to a steel wheel carriage. Our newest acquisition is a pair of Clark Foundry of Rumford, Maine wood splitters dating from the 1920s. One of these was demonstrated much of the day with a 1919 Fairbanks Morse gas engine. At the Letterpress Office, we had guest printer Mark Matteau of the Dunstan Press in Scarborough, ME operate a proof press sharing a prints from a newly donated collection of illustration cuts from the former Bucksport Printing Shop & Free Press owned by the Buxton family for several generations. Jeff Buxton was on hand to share stories about growing up in his family’s letterpress office in the 1970s. Jeff has donated a press, type and other equipment from the former business. Pattie Jones and son Simon shared information about our developing pottery program. Last year the museum was gifted a wood burning kiln from the former Antiquity Tile Works in Hampden, ME. The gift from the new owners of the property included the kiln comprised of nearly 10,000 bricks as well as clay and a lifetime of glazes. We are still in process of moving the mortar-less brick kiln to the museum and need additional volunteer assistance. We plan on a volunteer work day this Saturday, March 23, 10AM. If you are interested in helping, give us a call. We should complete the relocation by the Spring. We have a building that will house potters’ wheels and drying shelves. Our Utility Shed includes an electric kiln.

The museum underwent a major infrastructure development project from 2020-2023 with the addition of 15 new structures. In 2023 we opened our doors to large public school field trips at the Orrington/Holden site for the first time unveiling a program that focuses on hands-on history programming using a working collection. We were open more than 100 days in 2023. Certainly COVID has effected donations in recent years, but we are optimistic, especially after Saturday’s gathering, about the future. We plan on an Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 20, 10-3; details will soon be posted.

On Friday Night, March 15, 6-9PM

we will revisit coal fired forging after a long hiatus. Our instructor Dwight King will develop beginners skills in you as you create a series of projects including J & S hooks. You will learn safety, fire starting and strategies for shaping steel once you’ve heated it. You should have natural fiber clothing and footwear, gloves, and a pair of safety eyeglasses with side shields. Cost $65, Ages 15 & Older.

Saturday, March 16, 10AM-3PM, Maple Syrup & Irish Celebration,

Lots of food, including homemade waffles with syrup, homemade ice cream with syrup, baked beans, chili and more…Egg hunt for kids with prizes, fully furnished doll houses to play with, newly donated Rumford, Maine made vertical wood splitter in operation with hit & miss engines, drag saw and cord saw. Blacksmithing and tentatively metal casting. Visit our Letterpress Office where there will be stories of the old Bucksport Free Press along with a perusal of cases of type and furnishings from the former local newspaper… We’re looking for volunteer docents to do things like run the schoolhouse, the country store, the letterpress office, the cider mill & granary, the car culture building, the carpenter’s shop and the horse carousel. Introduce yourself if you are interested in contributing time to the museum. Learn about our evolving pottery program and our wood-burning kiln. Admission: $12 Adults, $6 Ages 13-18, Free: Ages 12 & Under.

Saturday & Sunday, March 16 & 17, 9-4, Blacksmithing Workshop: Start to Finish Knife Making

Begin by forging a blade and handle tang out of 1095 steel. You will grind, file and sand this to your satisfaction. You will do the oil quench and we will oven temper the knife. You will make and fit a hardwood handle to your tang. This includes brass rivets and epoxy. You need natural fiber clothing and footwear, safety eyewear with side shields, gloves, maybe ear plugs, and a 2.5-3lb. hammer ( pein or drilling type hammer ). Cost: $325 Call to register: 207-205-4849. Ages 15 & older.

This free public event is always weather dependent. We have not had this event for two years due to warm weather spells

and consequently no ice on Fields Pond. Our goal this year is to harvest enough ice to fill the small, newly constructed ice

house at the Village. This will allow us to use ice in our multiple ice boxes in the Village throughout the year.

• Free admission
• Warming Station (Sugar Shack. Maine maple syrup for sale)
• Primitive log scoot pulled by antique tractor with half-tracks
• Draft Horses pulling our Marsh Hay Sled (originating from Scarborough, Maine) with bench seating. Rides will be $5.
• Chili, Homemade bread with butter, Beef Stew, Coney Island Hot Dogs for sale in the Curran Farmhouse Kitchen
• Blacksmithing. There will be a knife making Workshop in progress,. Sign up if interested. See details on our Facebook page under “Events” or on our webpage on this website.
• Family Participation. Use ice saws, ice pikes and ice tongs to cut ice cakes from Fields Pond.
• Demonstration of our 1919 gas-powered Novo Ice Saw. This saw was once used for commercial ice harvesting on Sebago Lake in Maine.

Forge a steel metal knife using traditional blacksmithing techniques. You will begin with 1095 steel and hammer out a blade and handle tang. Once you have completed the rough shape you will grind, file and sand your blade to perfection. You will drill holes for your brass handle rivets. You will heat treat your blade starting with a heat and quench in peanut oil. The second part of this is an oven temper which will take place after you leave from Day 1. On Day 2 you will clean up your blade and create the parts of your hardwood handle and fix it permanently. Requirements; Synthetics melt whereas natural fibers may scorch so we recommend natural fiber clothing and footwear, safety eyewear with side shields, work gloves, ear plugs (optional), and a 2.5-3 pound pein type, drilling, or metal work hammer. Call for additional info. or to register with a credit card. Cost: $325 Call: 207-205-4849

Our popular blacksmithing workshop is back. Saturday & Sunday, February 10 & 11, 9AM-4PM, Knife Making Workshop.

Start to finish class. Begin with hand forging a blade and a handle tang from high carbon steel. Grind, file and sand your blade to perfection. You will temper the knife with an oil quench and an oven heat. You will prepare your tang to receive brass rivets and hard wood handle scales, You can sand these and oil finish them. We use a fast-drying epoxy in addition to the brass rivets to hold your handle together. Bring a bag lunch, safety glasses with side shields, ear plugs, leather gloves, natural fiber clothing, leather footwear, and a 2.5-3 lb. metal working hammer ( pein type or drill hammer ). Cost: $325 In case we have to cancel due to snow we will negotiate with you a makeup weekend. Gift certificates available. Call: 207-205-4849

Due to Hurricane Lee we have changed the dates of our Big Tag Sale to Sat. & Sun., Sept. 30 & Oct. 1, 2023. We will still have a sizeable of antiques, household, machinery, hardware, tools, clothing, dolls, horse drawn implements, antique autos and parts, a Saw Mill, a manure spreader, horse drawn plows, signage, Victoriana, furniture, cast iron stoves, winnowers, a Fraser rototiller, a Buffalo Forge Co. drill press, a 19th century wood planer, corn shellers, 1940s vintage power tools, lots of nails and screws, lawn mowers, antique lumber, and more surprises and prizes…