Otisfield Historical plans program

OTISFIELD — Otisfield’s lakes and scenic roadways prompt some to call it a good place to live and visit. The Otisfield Historical Society plans to highlight another important feature of the town – its many fine old houses, some located along main roads, others hidden away and seldom spotted by those just driving through.

About 40 of these old houses, all built before 1840, will be the subject of a power point presentation at the Society’s next meeting on Thursday, October 25. The meeting will be held at the Community Hall at 7 p.m.

The Historical Society has been collecting information on its old buildings since 1981, when community residents answered a call to participate in a survey of historic architecture in Oxford County. The end result of that survey was the formal beginnings of the Historical Society.

The survey also led, in 1984, to the publication of Randall Bennett’s important book, "Oxford County, Maine: A Guide to Its Historic Architecture," which includes a chapter on Otisfield. More recently, Society members have been cooperating with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission to re-survey all old buildings in town.

The results of this survey will be shown in Hankins’ talk, which she considers a “preliminary” study.

“One question I get asked a lot is what is the oldest house in town,” she said. “I really don’t like to answer that, because it’s very hard to put an exact date on a house.” Nevertheless, the October 25 program will put tentative dates on 40 houses. Hankins will explain briefly the methods historians use to date old houses, and also just why the task is so difficult.

The meeting is free and open to the general public. Organizers particularly hope that those who live in some of the town’s historic houses will be able to attend.