OTISFIELD — The Sybil Lamb Archival Room at the Otisfield Town House was dedicated Sunday in what Historical Society President Henry Hamilton called the celebration of the rescue of an abandoned historical building.

“Thanks to the generosity in cash, kind and time of the citizens of Otisfield and beyond, this building is again a functioning entity, a place where people can gather and, equally important, a place to safely store Otisfield’s invaluable historical archives,” Hamilton said. A large group of people, including representatives from the New Gloucester and Bethel historical societies, gathered to dedicate the room in the basement of the Town House on Bell Hill Road.

Jean Hankins said that when she took over as society archivist in 1996, the president handed her a laundry-size basket filled with historical papers and other objects.

“As archivist, I succeeded my late mother-in-law, Nellie Hankins, and Virginia Jillson. The basket contained the Historical Society’s archives at that time,” she said. “Over the years, as the archives expanded, we moved from a small closet under the stairs of the Town Office, then into the town vault, then into a small room upstairs in my garage, and finally to the magnificent space of the Town House.”

In addition, contractor Ken Bartow of Otisfield, who acted as clerk of the works, and Callie Zilinsky of Otisfield, the grant-writing chairwoman, briefly spoke.

The 1905 Town House was deeded to the society by voters in 2009 after it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Society members recently completed renovating it for use as their headquarters and as a repository for archives.

The building was once a hub of town activity, including the site of annual town meetings and voting. Official use of the building declined as the population grew and, in 1992, the Town Office opened in the former Otisfield Elementary School on Route 121.

In June, after the foundation and basement were completed, the town voted to grant the society $22,606 from the Sybil Lamb Fund to complete the archival room. The money paid to frame and insulate the basement perimeter, install a sump pump and dehumidifier, frame and insulate the 25- by 20-foot room, and install Sheetrock and a climate-control system.

The room is named after Sybil Knight Lamb whose century-plus-old diaries have become an invaluable resource for local historians. Lamb was born in 1850 and died in 1929.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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