Old Berwick Historical Society, 2 Liberty Street, South Berwick, ME (2026)

Name: Old Berwick Historical Society
Address: 2 Liberty Street, South Berwick, ME, 03908, US
Telephone: +12073840000
Price range: $

OPEN WEEKEND AFTERNOONS JUNE-OCTOBER AND YEAR ROUND BY APPOINTMENT

The Old Berwick Historical Society promotes public awareness of and appreciation for local and regional history through a variety of activities that explore, preserve, interpret, and celebrate the past, and through stewardship of the Counting House and its collections. We serve history lovers from all over the country, especially Seacoast New Hampshire and Southern York County, Maine. The Counting House Museum is a regional treasure containing one of northern New England’s last textile mill ballrooms. Home of the Old Berwick Historical Society, it is a repository for documents, photographs and historic curiosities covering a wide spectrum of community life in and around the Berwicks, site of the first permanent settlement in Maine.

10/21/2026

We are one week away from the October lecture of our 2026 speakers series sponsored by Kennebunk Savings Bank.

For God and the Slave, South Berwick’s Reverend John W. Lewis

Wednesday, October 28
7:00 PM
First Parish Federated Church
South Berwick, Maine

CJ Martin explores the life and career of Reverend John W. Lewis, a Black Freewill Baptist Minister from South Berwick, a one-man tour de force who helped spread the abolitionist movement to areas of the country that were overwhelmingly white.

CJ Martin is a historian who focuses on Black history, and pays particular attention to the abolitionist movement and the politics of anti-slavery. He teaches courses that run the gamut of African American history, and centers Black Americans’ struggles for justice, from slavery and abolition to Black Lives Matter. CJ also maintains a public focus, and has consulted with public history and social justice organizations and museums.

His first book, The Precious Birthright: Black Leaders and the Fight to Vote in Antebellum Rhode Island, tells the story of how Black Rhode Islanders were able to win back the right to vote in Rhode Island – the only instance before the Civil War in which a state re-enfranchised Black men it had previously barred from voting. His current book project is a biography of Reverend John W. Lewis, a Black Freewill Baptist minister who helped spread anti-slavery around Northern New England and New York.

The event is free and open to the public, light refreshments will be served.

10/17/2026

We have a number of photos of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in our maritime collection including this great image of tge ordinance park that used to exist in front of the officer’s quarters.

10/16/2026

With the recent announcement that the lower floor of Town Hall was complete and ready to open, we thought we would share this brief history of the school for which the building was constructed in 1926.

10/15/2026

Have you ever gotten so mad it made your blood boil? Can you imagine if it burst into flames? For we share this article of a South Berwick resident who claimed it could!

The idea of spontaneous human combustion was used by the 19th century temperance movement to incite a fear that alcohol consumption could make your blood and body flammable. While papers and literature would pose scenarios like this, there are no credible documented cases.

Not to impugn the character of Jacob Hanson, but this blood burning in the 1830s was a hoax. Human blood is roughly 80% water, and any liquid mixture with that high of a water content will not ignite. For a liquid-alcohol solution to catch fire, it generally needs an alcohol concentration of at least 50% (100 proof) or higher. Even at a dangerously high blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.40%, the alcohol content in the blood is only about 0.4%, which is far too dilute to catch fire or sustain a flame.

10/13/2026

Save the date for the October lecture of our 2026 speakers series sponsored by Kennebunk Savings Bank.

For God and the Slave, South Berwick’s Reverend John W. Lewis

7:00 PM
First Parish Federated Church
South Berwick, Maine

CJ Martin explores the life and career of Reverend John W. Lewis, a Black Freewill Baptist Minister from South Berwick, a one-man tour de force who helped spread the abolitionist movement to areas of the country that were overwhelmingly white.

CJ Martin is a historian who focuses on Black history, and pays particular attention to the abolitionist movement and the politics of anti-slavery. He teaches courses that run the gamut of African American history, and centers Black Americans’ struggles for justice, from slavery and abolition to Black Lives Matter. CJ also maintains a public focus, and has consulted with public history and social justice organizations and museums.

His first book, The Precious Birthright: Black Leaders and the Fight to Vote in Antebellum Rhode Island, tells the story of how Black Rhode Islanders were able to win back the right to vote in Rhode Island – the only instance before the Civil War in which a state re-enfranchised Black men it had previously barred from voting. His current book project is a biography of Reverend John W. Lewis, a Black Freewill Baptist minister who helped spread anti-slavery around Northern New England and New York.

The event is free and open to the public, light refreshments will be served.

Address

2 Liberty Street
South Berwick, ME
03908

Opening Hours

1pm - 4pm

Telephone

+12073840000

Website

http://www.oldberwick.org/

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Old Berwick Historical Society