Maine State Museum August Roundup

Museum Roundup

News & Updates from the Maine State Museum

August 2023

The Latest...

Summer Fun in Augusta!

Educator Dave Hunt leads a 1/2 hour tour Capitol Park tour that is chock-full of historic and fun facts.

Looking for something to do this summer in Augusta? Join museum educators for tours of scenic Capitol Park, or pay a visit to the State House or Blaine House. Capitol Park tours take place every Tuesday and Wednesday in August at 11 AM and 12 PM. No advanced registration required.

Guided tours of the State House are free of charge and are offered Monday through Friday at 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 and noon. Walk-ins are welcome, but reservations are recommended. Blaine House tours require advanced reservations and are at 10:00, 10:30, and 11:00 Monday through Friday. Visit the museum's website for more information and to access the online reservation form.

Visit the Blaine House, the official residence of the Governor of Maine.

Learn More on our Website

Vector and Calf Wait in the Wings

One of the museum’s most exciting and ambitious projects ever is unfolding in an unassuming workshop in Seal Harbor, Maine.

There, under the expert effort and guidance of scientist and whale anatomy specialist Dan DenDanto, the skeletons of two humpback whales are being cleaned, analyzed, and meticulously prepared to be reassembled. The female whale, Vector, and young whale calf both died of natural causes. When Dan and his crew are finished, they will bring the two skeletons to the Maine State Museum. There, Dan will suspend the skeletons in a remodeled gallery for all visitors to see and experience.

Dan DenDanto with the partially assembled backbone of the humpback whale calf that will be on exhibit in the reopened museum.

When Dan's work is complete, Vector and the calf will be the only pair of humpback whale skeletons on exhibit in the world that shows the species range and size. Learn more about this exciting project and go behind the scenes with Dan DenDanto in the video here. You can also listen to Maine State Museum Curator of Natural Science Paula Work, who will reveal more about the reasons behind this amazing effort and what lies in store for visitors to the “whale gallery” in the reopened Maine State Museum.

Learn More About Vector & the Calf

Looking for a Place to Stay?

The Travellers Home in Benton with the sign in 1935.

G.W. Reed Travellers Home sign from 1833

The Maine State Museum recently acquired a group of items from the old Travellers Home in Benton, Maine. In 1818, David Reed established the inn, which served as an important and long-standing feature of the old post road to Bangor along the Sebasticook River. Noted for its tavern and as a meeting point for local militia, the inn also displayed the first wallpaper and clock in town.

The Travellers Home sign, now at the Maine State Museum, dates from 1833 when David Reed’s son George Washington Reed took over the inn and tavern. The sign hung outside the building until the 1850s when the inn closed.

Accompanying items from the Travellers Home that were added to the museum’s collection include an 1823 license to be an 'inholder' to David Reed; an 1834 Militia of Maine order to parade for Ezra Reed; and a puzzle box signed by G.W. Reed with an inscription to award anyone who can open it without breaking it.

Did you miss last month's Roundup? You can always read back issues here.

MAINE STATE MUSEUM www.mainestatemuseum.org

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