The museum at 121 Main St., Bridgton, is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (last tour at 3:30) through Oct. 8 or by appointment.
Admission: $8 for adults, $4 for students, free for children ages 15 and under. There is no charge to visit the museum gift shop.
Masks are required.
Phone number: (207) 647-2828
Founded in 2005, the museum features the history of a remarkable 19th-century New Englander, Rufus Porter (1792-1884). The museum is dedicated to capturing and sharing with the public Porter’s uniquely American blend of creativity, ingenuity, practicality, and energy by exploring the world and era in which he lived and worked.
Campus includes two historic Bridgton homes:
The museum’s main exhibits, located in the John and Maria Webb House, feature the story of Rufus Porter and include a collection of miniature portraits in The Charles and Judith G.T. Vogler Portrait Room; models of some of his inventions, books and pamphlets written by Porter, and early editions of Scientific American in The Kendal C. and Anna Charitable Foundation Invention Room; special exhibit space; and the museum store. The Webb House is on the National Register of Historic Places and received an Honor Award from Maine Preservation in 2019.
The Nathan Church House is home to a collection of murals from various New England homes, an in situ mural room, and special exhibit space. The Church House is the original headquarters of the museum and one of Bridgton’s oldest surviving buildings. It has been moved three times, with its final move in 2016 to its current location on Church Street behind the Webb House.
Upcoming fundraising event: The Mystery Barnstorming Tour, a tour of local barns, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 23. Tickets available at www.rufusportermuseum.org or (207) 647-2828.
Ongoing: Raise the Rufus! A capital campaign to construct a third building on Main Street to house and display previously unseen wall murals (too large for the current space). The addition also will include exhibit, classroom and community meeting space. Goal: $1.9 million. Raised so far from private donations: $1 million.
Scholarships: Camp Invention for children entering grades K-6, Stevens Brook Elementary School, Bridgton.
Source: rufusportermuseum.org
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