Kennebec Historical Society

10/11/2026

This is the video from September 30th of the presentation of “Wagons Ho! Remembering the 1976 Bicentennial Wagon Train.”

10/05/2026

Please join the Windsor Historical Society on October 14th @ 6:00 pm in the Malta Room, Windsor Fairgrounds, for
THE SHORT LIFE OF WILLIAM LINN (1819 - 1836) OF WINDSOR MAINE:
A NEW ENGLAND ALAMO STORY
On October 14, 2026, between 6PM and 7PM William Linn of Windsor Maine will come home during a program at the Windsor Historical Society. He had gone to Texas and was sixteen when died at sunrise on March 6, 1836 within the walls of the Alamo in Bexar Texas, today referred to as San Antonio. Fran Leazes, Professor Emeritus at Rhode Island College and award-winning writer for the Alamo Historical Society, will tell William Linn’s story. It is a New England family generational narrative about a very young man who was following in his ancestors’ footsteps when his life ended. The presentation will connect William to Windsor. The 45 minutes program will begin a 6 PM and conclude with a short Q& A session.
Please share with your history loving friends.

10/02/2026

KHS at the Maine Archives and Museums Conference in Jewett Hall on the UMA campus!

09/10/2026

KHS Book Sale tomorrow, Friday, September 11th, from 9 am to 3 pm!!! Lots of great books available!!

09/04/2026

Come visit KHS at the Windsor Fair!!!

We will be there until 3:30 pm.

08/24/2026

The Kennebec Historical Society’s September Presentation: Maine’s Military Might

The Kennebec Arsenal in Augusta and its strategic importance to the Army in the 19th century comprise a key facet of a Kennebec Historical Society lecture planned for September 16 at South Parish Congregational Church in Augusta.

The presentation is taking place in conjunction with the society’s annual meeting and potluck supper. Speaker Arend T. Thibodeau, of Harmony, using a slideshow, also will emphasize the strategic importance of military significance of Aroostook County and Casco Bay, the other Maine fortifications, warship construction at Bath Iron Works, the role that Brunswick Naval Air Station and other Maine locations played in the six-year Battle of the Atlantic during World War II, and the buildup of nuclear weapons in Maine during the long-running Cold War.

Arendt has been a professional photographer and registered Maine guide since 1999. His latest book is Maine’s Military Might: Memories of Military Infrastructure in the Pine Tree State (2025). He also has written The Aroostook Arms Race: Cold War in the Crown of Maine (2024), and Casco Bay, 1939-1945 (estimated publication in November 2026), and other historical works.

The presentation, free to the public (with donations gladly accepted), will take place at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 16, at the South Parish Congregational Church located at 9 Church Street in Augusta. The program will be preceded at 5:30 p.m. by a potluck supper and at 6 p.m. by the society’s annual meeting and election of directors. For details about the potluck supper, please contact Anne Cough, either by email at [email protected] or by phone at 582-2823. Any questions about the presentation should be directed to KHS Executive Director Scott Wood at 207-622-7718.

08/24/2026

Here is the video from the “Like Father, Like Sons – The Burbank Family in the Revolutionary”

08/14/2026

The Kennebec Historical Society August 2026 Program:
“Like Father, Like Sons – The Burbank Family in the Revolutionary”

Throughout history, people have often been caught up in the momentous events of their era, and so it was for members of the Burbank family of Scarborough in what was then the Province of Maine. Upon hearing of the outbreak of fighting between colonists and British regulars at Lexington and Concord in 1775, Silas Burbank immediately joined a militia group heading for Boston. In something unheard of in later wars, he was joined by his two young sons, thirteen-year-old David as a drummer and eleven-year-old Eleazer as a fifer.

These family members remained in George Washington’s army for five years. This illustrated program tells the amazing story of the Burbank’s service in the American Revolution, beginning with the siege of Boston and continuing to the battle of Saratoga, the winter spent at Valley Forge, and much more. We learn of Eleazer’s being captured by the British and his father dining with General Washington. Silas also playing a role in the traitor Benedict Arnold’s defection. Stunning 18th century Revolutionary War art is included.

KHS presenter, Linda Snow McLoon, is a published author who has deep roots in Scarborough but grew up in Maine’s Belgrade Lakes Region. She served as Executive Director of the Portland Harbor Museum and has served on the boards of the Belgrade Historical Society and the Scarborough Historical Society. She currently volunteers at the Maine Historical Society and the South Portland Historical Society, and as a local history historian, she presents illustrated lectures on topics of Maine history.

The presentation, free to the public (donations are gladly accepted), is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, August 19, at Augusta City Center, located at 16 Cony Street in Augusta. For more information, call Scott Wood, KHS Executive Director, at 207-622-7718.

08/13/2026

07/21/2026