Washburn-Norlands Living History Center

290 Norlands Rd.
Livermore, ME 04253
(207) 897-4366

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Where history comes to life! The Norlands is Maine's premier living history museum and farm where costumed interpreters portray real people who lived in the Norlands’ neighborhood in the 1800s. The 445-acre property includes a stately 1867 Victorian country mansion with farmer’s cottage and attached barn, a gothic-style granite library, a Universalist meetinghouse, a one-room schoolhouse, and an expanse of picturesque working farmland. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Norlands is the the ancestral home of the Washburns, one of the great political and industrious families of the 19th century. Of the ten children born to Israel and Martha Washburn of Livermore, Maine, seven sons rose to serve as governors, congressmen, a United States senator, Secretary of State, foreign ministers, a Civil War general, and a Navy captain. As industrialists, the brothers' achievements included founding of the Washburn-Crosby Gold Medal Flour Company, invention of a typewriter, and serving as president of a railroad. No other American family has produced an equivalent level of political and business leadership in a single generation than that of the Washburns from Livermore, Maine. The past is not merely preserved and remembered at Norlands. It is brought to life as we re-create the activities, re-learn the skills, and re-connect with the attitudes and values of 19th-century rural Maine. Open year-round by appointment for group programs and tours. Open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays throughout July and August. Drop in anytime from 11am to 4pm. Arrive by 1pm to have enough time to see all of the buildings. Special programming offered on Thursdays throughout the summer. Visit www.NORLANDS.org for more information.