FARMINGTON — Rangeley is the year’s featured town for the Farmington Fair Museum, Ron Pratt, president of the Agricultural and Historical Museums said Wednesday.

Local towns take turns displaying their history for a week at the fair, he said. The fair museum is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day of the fair, Sept. 14 to 20.

Four Rangeley museums set up displays to show the town’s history and to invite people to come to Rangeley, Gary Priest of the Rangeley Lakes Historical Society said Wednesday.

The museums include the Rangeley Lakes Region Historical Society’s Main Street Museum and its Outdoor Sporting Heritage Museum in Oquossoc Village, The Rangeley Lakes Region Logging Museum and Orgonon, The Wilhelm Reich Museum.

Displays include fish mounts and fly rods made by Charles Wheeler of Farmington and Bud Wilcox, he said, and memorabilia, dishes and room keys from the town’s historic hotels.

The fly rods made by Wheeler in the late 1800s were six-sided rods tapered and glued to fit together, Don Palmer said as he pulled one out of its case.

A video features segments on log driving, Stump to Ship, trout fishing in Rangeley Lake, Rangeley camps and steam boats, Priest said. There’s also a segment on fly fishing with Herb Welch.

The Rangeley Lakes Logging Museum features the history of the logging industry, Peggy Yocum said. The White family and their contributions to the local industry emphasized including a display of a No. 3 Muscles machine designed and built by Elijah “Tiger” White. It was the forerunner of the skidder, she said.

The skidder was rebuilt by grandson Lance White and will be displayed near the Agricultural Museum, she said.

Children can put on logging safety outfits and gear, she said.

The museum also will feature a display on their bean-hole-bean meals, a part of the annual logging festival, she said. For 20 years, Wayne White cooked the beans. He will greet visitors at the fair museum on Sept. 19, she said.

Many of the Whites are included in the Loggers Hall of Fame at the Rangeley museum.

The artwork of Alden Grant finds a place in the display. A former logging camp clerk in Kennebago, Grant painted scenes from the camp in his later years, Yocum said.

The four museums’ display is also an invitation for local people to come up and visit, Priest said.

The Outdoor Heritage Museum is offering free admission to all Franklin County residents from Sept. 15 to closing on Oct. 13. There’s normally a $5 fee, he said.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday during September and on Saturdays and Sundays in October.

With foliage season around the corner, people will want to explore Quill Hill off Route 16, he said. Located about 10 miles out of Rangeley heading for Stratton, the hill provides a 360-degree view of the region’s lakes and mountains.

Adrian Brochu developed the road from Route 16 where drivers enter at a sign stating, “Welcome to Quill Hill.” It’s about a 12-minute ride up a smooth wide road to the summit some 2,840 feet up.

“It’s a spectacular view,” he said.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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