Our Ice Harvest is Cancelled on Sat., Jan. 28, 2023

Uncategorized

We will not have our annual ice harvest this year due to thin ice and lack of frost in the ground.

We need very thick ice (usually 20 inches or more thick) to drive our tractor with half tracks pulling a sled to retrieve

ice harvested and transport it to the ice house at the Village above Fields Pond. Concern for the safety of our guest draft

horses is also a factor. We have had lots of snow but it is mud under that in the field where we give rides on a bobsled. The

horses could get injured pulled a heavy sled on soft ground as well as lose a shoe(s).

We will likely do an impromptu ice harvest for the sake of getting some ice for our Ice house so we can keep ice in our refrigerators in the farmhouse and Letterpress Office. We will cut that with our 1919 NOVO ice saw. We will post swhen and what time on our website and Facebook page if you are interest and want to help.

We will have our Maple Syrup & Irish Celebration Event on Saturday & Sunday, March 18 & 19, 10-3. We hope to offer draft horse and sled rides then as we have had snow at this time. We will have food, drink and demonstrations. We’re looking for blacksmiths for a roundup on these dates; let us know if you want to show up and use our blacksmith shops. There will an egg hunt in the snow for the kids and adults too if they like. Prizes awarded for eggs retrieved. And of course, we will be making maple syrup, you can try some, and we will have a choice of foods to taste the syrup with like homemade jonny cakes ( corn meal pancakes) and ice cream. Come see the progress of the museum. Food, drink and horse sled rides covered with our admissions price of $12 per person, under 15: $6.

Season Closing

Uncategorized

Our last event of the season was our Harvest Event on the weekend of October 8 & 9, 2022. Now that we are into the month of November we will be winterizing our horse carousel so rides will not be available until the month of May 2023 when we we-open the museum village. By the end of December our 2023 season calendar will be available on this website as well as in our in-print newsletter which you can request at: thecurranhomestead@gmail.com. We will continue to schedule workshops for adults and kids throughout late fall and the winter. There will be other ongoing activities at the museum which you can participate in. If interested, you can consult our webpages on this website or our Facebook page: “19th Century Curran Village” for the latest news about the museum. Be sure to check out our photo album and other webpages on this website, as we have been updating them to document the progress of our recent construction efforts and evolving programming offerings. Thank you for your interest!

Painting in October and November?

Our Country Store has gotten a lot of attention recently with a major scraping, caulking and new coats of blue stain.
The Country Store was relocated from southern Maine in 2020 in five pieces so its taken some major work on the part of our staff to get it back together again,
Our Grain & Cider Mill was the center of action during our October Harvest Event. We made 200 gallons of cider! It was recently painted for the first time having been constructed over the last two years.
This Grain & Cider Mill is a completely new construction, and it will be the center of grain and apple processing as well as hoof, paw, hand and foot power with our collection of machine powering animal treadmills.
Our Machine Shop has also received a coat of stain recently. We hope to get this shop set up to run our machinery in it with steam power over the coming months.
This twin screw cider press did not get used this past Harvest Event due to the need to fabricate some additional parts, and we will do that for next year’s apple season. We did use the apple grinding mill that goes with it for the first time!

Join our Cider Making Co-Op. Pics from our October 8 & 9, 2022 Harvest Event

Nate Coe feeds our apple grinding mill that was set up with a flat belt and early electric motor. It chewed up apples for cider like nothing else.
The fly wheel is achieving some rpms as we fed apples into the hopper of the grinder for more than a couple of days to get through more than 60 bushels of apples.
at rest, after severasl days of hard going. We formed a co-op to procerss cider each apple season. To belong you contribute apples and labor to the enterprise. Your reward is a portion of the yield for your own consumption.
we had our steam traction engine going during the Harvest Event; it will eventually power the Machine Shop seen behind it with the installation of a line shaft pulley system.
Much of our cider making was done on these portable cider mills.
This press includes twin screws that were cast in Waterville, ME in the 1870s!
We started in July offering rides on the carousel.
Susan Howard has been doing foot treadle sewing with us this season. Here she shows some of her handywork. A tote bag made from a feed bag
A Knife Making Workshop we did with the Raymond-Casco Historical Society in August.

Summer S.T.E.A.M. History Camp, 2022

The Letterpress Office has become the center of table top workshops; we did printing, weaving, calligraphy, jewelry making and sculpture making in the shop during the summer history camp.
Mark Matteau of the Dunstan Press led our letterpress printing workshop with kids 7-12 this past summer.
Tetley T is always the center of attention; get a ride in her.
Lap loom weaving at our summer history camp.
Foot treadle sewing machine sewing.
Ken Hamilton shared Algonquin peoples dance and song at our summer camp.
Campers stringing wampum.
Our new Whig & Courier Letterpress Office
Campers work at constructing lap looms for weaving.

When are we open next?

Uncategorized

We will have our Annual Ice Harvest on Saturday, January 28, 2023, 10AM-3PM.

Because the ice harvest is always weather dependent, please check this website or our Facebook page: 19th Century Curran Village for updates.

Scheduled workshops can be found on our “Kids Workshops” and “Adult Workshops” pages as well as on our Facebook “Events”.

Sat. & Sun., Oct. 8 & 9, 10AM-3PM Harvest Event

Uncategorized

This last event of the season includes pumpkin painting, cider making, Model T rides, rides on our 1894 horse carousel,

engine demos, live steam with our steam traction engine, ongoing foot treadle sewing machine sewing demo, blacksmithing ( Pay to register, call: 207-205-4849, for a one day railroad spike knife making workshop on Saturday or Sunday from 9AM-4PM ), apple pie, apple strudel, stew and pork and beans, Wee Bit Farms of Orland sausages & burgers, and cider. See our progress in creating a museum village.

Pumpkin Painting
Cider Press & Grinder
Our newly built Cider & Grain Mill
Model T Depot Hack Rides
Foot treadle sewing machine sewing demo with Susan Howard
Live Steam Demo with our steam traction engine
Grist Mill
Illust., Keystone Cider Mill, 1871

A Photo Gallery from our recent Summer S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) History Camp at 19th Century Curran Village, July 18-22, 2022

Uncategorized

This past July 18-22 , 19th Century Curran Village hosted its’ first week-long summer S.T.E.A.M. history camp. Our program included the following:

  • Alexander Calder-esque Wire Figure Circus Sculpture with artist Ann Thompson, Biddeford, ME
  • Foot Treadle Sewing Machine with Susan Howard (Project: Cinch Bag Made with Fat Quarters)
  • Cyanotypes with artifacts and found objects with Robert Schmick & Doug Dolan
  • Archaeological Dig
  • Fiber Arts: Make a Lap Loom, Weave, Spin Wool with a Drop Spindle
  • Native American Program with Ken Hamilton: Make wampum, storytelling, song and dance
  • Woodworking: Make a Dowel Handle Toolbox with Doug Dolan & Weldon Long
  • Woodworking: Make a Coat Rack Using a Shaving Horse, Draw Knife, Spoke Shave and Saw with Doug Dolan
  • Ford Model T Rides
  • Rides on our 1894 Armitage-Herschell Horse Carousel
  • Letterpress Printing with Mark Matteau of the Dunstan Press, Scarborough, ME
  • Pickle Making with Cheryl & Weldon Long
  • Metal Casting with Peter Grant, Odd Duck Foundry, Orrington, ME
  • Blacksmithing with Robert Schmick
Letterpress Printing at the Whig & Courier Letterpress Office, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Making circus figures with wire, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
In the Carpenter’s Shop, making dowel handle toolboxes, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Zoe shows her weaving project, fiber arts, Summer camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
On the carousel, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
On the 1894 Armitage-Herschell riding Gallery,, carousel, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Stringing wampum, Native American Culture, with Ken Hamilton, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Making lap looms, fiber arts, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Typesetting, Letterpress, at the Whig & Courier Letterpress Office, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Typesetting, letterpress, Whig & Courier Letterpress Office, 19th Century Curran Village, Summer Camp, 2022
Ainsley at the treadle sewing machine, Foot Treadle Sewing Machine Sewing, 19th Century Curran Village, Summer Camp, 2022
Ken hamiltionn assists with lap looms, fiber arts, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Carousel, 19th Century Curran Village, Summer Camp, 2022
1894 Armitage-Herschell Riding Gallery, Carousel, 2022
Carousel Rides, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
The Whig & Courier Letterpress Office with new handicap accessible ramps, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Genevieve Schmick, a Summer Camp Staffer, works at a treadle sewing machine, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Fiber Arts, summer Camp, Whig * Courier Letterpress Office, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Volunteer Summer Camp Counselor Cheryl Long cooling down Victorian style in the Whig & Courier Letterpress Office, 19th Century Curran Village, July, 2022
Letterpress printing in the Whig & Courier Letterpress Office, with Mark Matteau of the Dunstan Press, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Summer camp counselor Doug Dolan in the Whig & Courier Letterpress Office, 19th Century Curran village, 2022
Making Alexander Calder-esque circus wire sculptures, Summer Camp, Whig & Courier Letterpress Office, 2022
Typesetting with printer Mark Matteau of the Dunstan Press, Scarborough, Whig & Courier Letterpress Office, Summer Camp, 2022
Metal Casting with Peter Grant, Odd Duck Foundry, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Peter Grant of the Odd Duck Foundry, Metal Casting, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Metal Casting, with Peter Grant, Odd Duck Foundry, Summer camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Foot Treadle Sewing on the Curran Farmhouse Porch, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Foot Treadle Sewing Machine Sewing with Susan Howard, Curran farmhouse porch, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Volunteer Cheryl Long gets in a few runs on a foot treadle sewing machine, Curran farmhouse porch, Summer Camp, 2022
Foot treadle Sewing Machine Sewing, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Foot Treadle Sewing on the porch with Susan Howard, summer camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Shaving Horses, Making coat racks, summer camp, 19th Century Curran Village
A working collection of shaving horses, summer camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Metal Working, Wire Sculpture Circus Figures, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Learning abiout tools, Wire sculpture circus sculpture, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Artist Ann Thompson, bent wire sculpture and jewelry. Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Found artifacts, archaeological dig, summer camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Bent wire sculpture, figurative circus sculpture, summer camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Figurative wire sculpture, Circus Sculpture, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Circus Sculpture, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Wire Sculpture & Jewelry, 19th Century Curran Village, Summer Camp, 2022
Wire Sculpture & Jewelry, 19th Century Curran Village, Summer Camp, 2022
Doug Dolan with his Schoolhouse Wall Clock Donation in the Whig & Courier Letterpress Office, 2022
Dowel Handle Toolbox Making, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Toolbox Making, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Lunch time at the Marsh Hay Sled from Scarborough, ME, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, July, 2022
How about a ride on our 1926 Centaur Garden Tractor,, Donated by Ed Buck of Bradley, ME, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Dorian takes a snooze in the Marsh Hay Sled from Scarborough, ME, summer camp, 19th Century Curran Village, July, 2022
Lunch time at the 1917 Ford Model T Depot Hack, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Ken Hamilton shares stories, Native American Culture, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Ken Hamilton, Native American Culture, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Dowel Handle Toolbox Making, woodworking, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Wampum beads, Native American Culture, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Making wampum, Native American Culture with Ken Hamilton, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Encampment, with Ken Hamilton, Native American Culture, summer camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Shenanigans at the Ox Sling, summer camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Dance & Song, Native American Culture, with Ken Hamilton, summer camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Song & Dance, Native American Culture with Ken Hamilton, summer camp, 19th Century Curran village, 2022
Song and dance with Ken Hamilton, Native American Culture, summer camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
At the Whig & Courier Letterpress Office, Summer Camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022
Taking a ride in the Ford Model T, summer camp, 19th Century Curran Village, 2022

Our Ice Harvest Event on Saturday, February 5, 2022, 10AM-3PM is CANCELLED due to the Winter Storm.

Uncategorized

After already postponing the Ice Harvest event originally scheduled for January 29; we are cancelling our free public Ice Harvest Event scheduled for Saturday, February 5. We will harvest ice during the coming week so that we can fill our Ice House for programming this coming spring and summer, but this will not be the public event. If you want to volunteer to help with that, we could use some help. We will need people to saw ice once we have made the initial cuts wityh our Novo Ice Saw achieving the depth of 10 inches. The ice on Fields Pond may be as thick as 20 inches.

Those who were looking forward to sled rides with our visiting draft horses, we will have them back for our Maple Syrup and Irish Celebration on Saturday, March 19, 10AM-3PM. If we don’t have snow, we will offer wagon rides.

1 2 3 4 5 … 9