LEXINGTON PLANTATION — More than 100 individuals came to the open house and dedication of the Lexington-Highland Historical Society’s new home on Saturday.

Only six years ago, the area at the corner of the Long Falls Dam and Back Roads had been the site of a burned-out homestead, overgrown with brush and weeds.

Today’s guests viewed a new large, comfortable structure, the work of dozens of dedicated volunteers, inspired by unexpected conversations with strangers.

The group began in 1991, when eight area residents met at Emmons and Barbara Pinkham’s camp and decided to form an organization that could preserve the treasures and memories of the region. The group became incorporated, but it had to store all of its memorabilia, family histories, written records and furnishings at members’ homes.

According to Emmons, master of ceremonies, the situation changed a few years ago when the couple attended the a North New Portland Fair to display some of the society’s collection.

Jim and Linda Taylor of Lexington stopped at their table and were impressed with their efforts, he said.

“But where do you store all this?” Jim asked at the time.

Pinkham explained that everything was stored in members’ attics, garages and wherever else members could find room. The Taylors left the exhibit, but Jim returned about 20 minutes later.

“How would you like a piece of land to build on?” he asked them.

The historical society members were ecstatic, Pinkham said, as they had only dreamed that such an opportunity would come their way.

In 2010, the group cut and milled the lumber on site for their new history house and poured a foundation. Volunteers have held countless fundraisers, hammered and nailed, painted, landscaped and catalogued collections. They applied for and received grants from area trusts and businesses, but much of their fundraising came from individual donations.

Little by little, they completed a two-story house with electricity and running water, rooms for exhibits and meetings and a broad lawn for gatherings.

Since then, Linda Taylor passed away, but she was remembered with great emotion and respect at the gathering. The couple had helped make the group’s dream a reality, Pinkham said, and they would be honored for generosity.

“The Lexington-Highland Historical Society is dedicating this building to Linda and Jim Taylor,” Pinkham announced, presenting a plaque to the surprised benefactor.

Pinkham said future generations should be asked to participate.

“This is my grandson, Orion Pinkham,” Pinkham told the audience, “and in 50 years, he’ll be 65.” 

He asked his grandson if he would agree to open the buried time capsule in 50 years, on Aug. 20, 2066. The young man promised he would do his best.

Lexington invited the Highland Historical Society members to merge with them in 2011. The group plans to build a post-and-beam barn, a blacksmith shop and connecting exhibit room attached to the present summer kitchen. Many of the members also are friends and co-workers outside the organization, so the day served as a reunion for those who live far away. Some also are members of the Kennebec Valley Chordsmen and Maine Stream Quintet, which performed early 20th-century favorites for the crowd.

The society’s historian, Steve Pinkham, shared the stories of the first families who settled in the area. One family came to start a farm, but an early frost destroyed their winter’s food, he said. They left the area, but their relatives returned years later and had considerably more success.

Pinkham has written several books, including “Mountains of Maine: Intriguing Stories Behind Their Names.” An avid genealogist, he has spent years researching these early settlers. Towns were usually organized before they were incorporated, he explained. Some of the original names proposed were very different from the ones on today’s maps.

In the early 1800s, a group of Gilman Pond Plantation settlers petitioned the Maine Legislature to become incorporated as Asia, named for the continent. A nearby group petitioned to become incorporated as Frazier, in honor of Ann Frazier, wife of Maine’s first governor, William King. Neither name was approved by the Maine Legislature, which chose other historically appropriate designations.

“So the towns of Lexington and Concord, named for the famous Revolutionary War towns in Massachusetts, could have been named Asia and Frazier,” he said.

The history house also houses genealogical resources, photos and military service of some of those early settlers, including those who fought in the Revolutionary War.

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