Living History at the Wilson Museum
See history in action! Try your hand at shaping wood with traditional tools. Feel the heat of the blacksmith’s fire. Learn what it takes to build a wooden boat. Immerse yourself in 18th century domestic life. Living History Days at the Wilson Museum offer hands-on, multi-sensory learning experiences for visitors of all ages.
Living History at the Wilson Museum is made possible through the generous support of Camden National Bank.
Come for a visit on Wednesdays and Sundays, 2-5 pm, in July and August to check it out!
Our Living History Campus includes:
Blacksmith’s Shop: inspired by area smithies from the 1860s
Wood Shop: demonstrations and hands-on activities
Boat Shop: traditional boat building and model boat activities
Boat Exhibit: an exhibit of traditional small boats and boating accessories
Bagaduce Engine Company: antique fire equipment and a working 1917 fire alarm
Hot Air Pump House: a work in progress!
Other Living History demonstrations and activities include ropemaking, ship rigging, weaving, pottery-making, traditional foodways, and more!
John & Phebe Perkins House
Guided tours of the John & Phebe Perkins House are offered on Living History Days, on the hour. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased in the Museum Shop.
The Perkins house was built about 1763 as a one-story house on what is now Court Street. John and his young bride Phebe, both from York, Maine, began their married life here. They had few near neighbors; by 1774 there were only six other houses on the Castine peninsula - three of these log cabins. As the Perkins family grew and prospered a four-room two-story addition was built across the gable end of the early home. Again, probably in 1783, the house was enlarged - the first one-story home being torn down to be rebuilt as a two-story ell.
By the 1960s, through long neglect, the Perkins House was in very poor condition and had been condemned as a fire hazard. In December 1968, the Castine Scientific Society (now the Wilson Museum) bought the house on Court Street and had it taken down piece by piece, beams, clapboards, moldings, bricks, timbers, etc. Next spring a cellar was dug on the grounds of the Wilson Museum, a concrete foundation poured and work on rebuilding the house began, all under the direction of Hoyt T. Hutchins. Much of the ell was too rotten to save but, fortunately, the kitchen could be. This and the four front rooms now appear as they did in 1783. The house on Court Street faced south, now it faces west, out the harbor. The house is furnished with Perkins family heirlooms and other late 18th and early 19th century items.