THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
OF WELLS AND OGUNQUIT
PRESERVING THE PAST FOR TWO MAINE TOWNS
Event Calendar
Visit our Video Archive for recordings of previous programs and events.
Diary of the Revolution:
The John Littlefield Journal
Special Exhibit - April to December 2026
Free Admission
While we have thousands of objects, books, and artifacts in our collection, few are from the Revolutionary War period. One exception is the John Littlefield Journal, one of our most significant colonial period pieces, and this year you’ll be able to view its Revolutionary reflections up close. The journal passed from John Littlefield to his son, and then down through the generations for decades before coming to the Historical Society. Its collection of notes, reflections, and military summaries provide fascinating insight into a local person’s view from the home front to the battlefield and back home. It’s a moving journey. We hope you'll stop in and share it with us!
Those Damned Yankees
with author Ray Deptula
Thursday, Sept 10, 2026, 6 to 7 pm
Wells Public Library
1434 Post Rd (US Rt 1) in Wells
Join us as author and WHS alumnus Ray Deptula talks about his fascinating two-book historical fiction series which skillfully blends a riveting narrative of the Revolutionary War with a compelling personal story. Book One (A Dog Before a Soldier) introduces us to Jack Halliday, a young Englishman who finds himself in a foreign land fighting a war he doesn't understand. Book Two (Can't Find My Way Home) chronicles Jack's struggle to survive the war and get back to the woman he loves.
Ray Deptula is a Wells native (WHS Class of '76) and a graduate of Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine. He spent 24 years in the U.S. Navy as a helicopter pilot and a political-military officer. Ray is a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, with a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies. Those Damned Yankees is the first novel Ray has published, having conceived of it while taking a Revolutionary War elective at the Naval War College.
This program is free. Ray's books will be available for purchase. Please contact us if you would like more information.
Twilight Cemetery Walking Tour
Sunday November 1 at 4:30 pm
Ocean View Cemetery
1485 Post Road (US Rt 1)
Wells, Maine
$10 per person
Space is limited. Click here to register!
join us for a fascinating exploration of the lives at rest in this historic cemetery. By lantern light, the tour will highlight family history, local events, and the changing styles of New England funerary art. Don’t miss this very popular annual event!
The tour is limited to 20 participants, and will include walking over uneven ground and in fading daylight. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes, and please bring a personal flashlight and park on the cemetery roads behind the real estate office. The tour will begin promptly at 4:30 pm. Space is limited. Click here to reserve your spot.
Market at the Meetinghouse
Holiday Craft Fair
Saturday, November 7, 9am to 3pm
At the Meetinghouse
938 Post Road (US Rt 1) in Wells
Join us for our Holiday Craft Market at the Meetinghouse! Browse all the wonderful local vendors for crafts and other goodies, enjoy hot cocoa and snacks, and don't miss the gift basket raffle!
Vendor spaces are available at $35 each with all proceeds to benefit the educational programs at the Historical Society. Do you have a craft product you'd like to sell at our market? Please contact us to register for a vendor space.
Woodies in the Cove Car Show
Saturday, August 14, 2027 - 8:30am to 2pm
974 Post Road (US Rt 1) in Wells, Maine
We're already looking forward to next year's Woodies in the Cove car show, our biggest fundraiser of the year! The show starts at 8:30 am at 974 Post Road (US Route 1) in Wells, followed by a Woodies parade at 2 pm through Wells and Ogunquit and into Perkins Cove. Admission is free for spectators. Visit our Woodies in the Cove page for more details.