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.
Special Postcard Exhibit: The Beaches of Wells & Ogunquit
At the Meetinghouse
938 Post Road (US Rt 1) in Wells
Now through December
~ Free Admission ~​​
Annual Meeting & Archaeology Presentation
Wednesday Nov 12 at 6:30 pm
At the Meetinghouse
Free Admission
Our 2025 annual meeting will feature Kennebunk Town Historian Kathy Ostrander Roberts, who will speak about the enslaved persons who lived in our communities and who formed their own settlement here after attaining freedom. Roberts is the author of the upcoming book Unmarked Graves and Forgotten Lives, The Enslaved Persons of Color in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells, and Arundel.
This program is free and light refreshments will be served. Door prizes will be given to three lucky winners.
Over the last few years, Roberts spearheaded an effort to fund a series of archaeological digs at a site near the Wells/Kennebunk border where previously enslaved persons lived following emancipation in 1783. Her presentation will elaborate on the names of the individuals who were enslaved, and by whom they were enslaved. She will then outline the steps it took to find the site using primary and secondary sources, and she will provide a wide range of images to illustrate this fascinating story.
Thanks to her research and the professional surveys conducted, we are able for the first time in over two hundred years to gain insight into the lives of these individuals and try to interpret how they lived as they transitioned from slavery to freedom. Images displayed of many fragmented artifacts can help paint a picture of their day-to-day lives. The site itself will now become a National Register Historic District because of Roberts's efforts.
The program will begin at 6:30 pm with a brief annual meeting, followed by Roberts’s presentation. For more information, please contact us.
Thanksgiving of Yesteryear 1863
We are pleased to welcome author and cultural historian Pamela McColl for an engaging and festive presentation that will explore the cultural history of Thanksgiving and celebrate the people who shaped our national holiday.
Among the early influential figures is Sarah Hale, fondly known as the "Mother of Thanksgiving" for her instrumental role in establishing Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863. The presentation will also feature an array of Thanksgiving themed images and excerpts from works created by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Henry David Thoreau, Lydia Maria Child, Sarah Orne Jewett, N.C. Wyeth, Winslow Homer, Currier and Ives, Ellen Clapsaddle, and Norman Rockwell. Notably, most of these contributors share a special connection to Maine.
Pamela McColl is the author of Twas The Night – The Art and History of the Classical Christmas Poem and Wondrous Mrs. Claus – A Literary and Pictorial Review of the Christmas Character. With a remarkable record of presenting at over 150 museums across America, McColl is currently touring the country, offering insights into the development of Christmas in America. She is the publisher of various editions of the beloved poem Twas The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore and played a pivotal role in the nationwide 2023 celebrations that marked the poem’s bicentennial.
​Tickets are $10 each and payable at the door. No registration required. Please contact us for more information.
Craft Market at the Meetinghouse
​
Sunday, Dec 14, 2025, 9am to 3pm
At the Meetinghouse
938 Post Road (US Rt 1) in Wells​
​Don't miss our Holiday Craft Market at the Meetinghouse, part of Ogunquit's festive Christmas by the Sea weekend. Browse all the wonderful local vendors for crafts and other goodies, and enjoy hot cocoa, doughnuts, and popcorn. And our historic 1862 Meetinghouse is the perfect spot to watch the start of the Town of Wells Christmas Parade at 2:00 pm.
​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.