OUR HISTORY
Excerpt from "North Haven, In Hot Pursuit of the Past" by Lewis Haskell, for Inter Island News, February 1994:
On the rainy night of November 13, 1975, 16 people gathered at the home of Richard Bloom and sat facing an open fire in the big fireplace in one of the oldest homes on the Island. They gathered to discuss the possibility of forming a Historical Society. Their enthusiasm was stimulated when shown numerous old documents, letters, deeds, and pictures recently retrieved [by Sam Beverage, Lewis Haskell, and other concerned citizens] from the Town Dump.
What they saw was a map of the original road that led from Pulpit Harbor to the Village on the Thoroughfare, the location of the first bridge and bills covering its construction, deeds for a schoolhouse lot at Little Thoroughfare and another for one at the West District, and, what was this about the Lily Pond Ice Company? What was disturbing about the material was that it was found at the Town dump, not in the files of the Town Office.
Before that evening ended, it was decided to form an interim Society and advertise it to the island community. The following spring, in June 27, 1976, the North Haven Historical Society officially organized, adopted by-laws, and elected officers -- President Lewis Haskell, Vice President Eliot Beverage, Secretary Edith Ames, Corresponding Secretary Mary Burr, and Treasurer Colon Winslow.
The first major problem was to find an adequate space for meetings and for the safe keeping of material that was beginning to accumulate. That problem was resolved when, at the annual Town Meeting, March 1977, the Town voted to lease the room in the North ell of the Town Office Building, formerly the village school house, to the Society.
In 1986, Lewis and Ida Haskell offered to donate their private museum consisting of a country store and carriage shed built as an ell onto their home. The gift included all the Haskell property, including their home, in exchange for a life's lease on their living quarters with garden space. With the acceptance of that gift, there was now a community museum named the North Island Museum.
On the rainy night of November 13, 1975, 16 people gathered at the home of Richard Bloom and sat facing an open fire in the big fireplace in one of the oldest homes on the Island. They gathered to discuss the possibility of forming a Historical Society. Their enthusiasm was stimulated when shown numerous old documents, letters, deeds, and pictures recently retrieved [by Sam Beverage, Lewis Haskell, and other concerned citizens] from the Town Dump.
What they saw was a map of the original road that led from Pulpit Harbor to the Village on the Thoroughfare, the location of the first bridge and bills covering its construction, deeds for a schoolhouse lot at Little Thoroughfare and another for one at the West District, and, what was this about the Lily Pond Ice Company? What was disturbing about the material was that it was found at the Town dump, not in the files of the Town Office.
Before that evening ended, it was decided to form an interim Society and advertise it to the island community. The following spring, in June 27, 1976, the North Haven Historical Society officially organized, adopted by-laws, and elected officers -- President Lewis Haskell, Vice President Eliot Beverage, Secretary Edith Ames, Corresponding Secretary Mary Burr, and Treasurer Colon Winslow.
The first major problem was to find an adequate space for meetings and for the safe keeping of material that was beginning to accumulate. That problem was resolved when, at the annual Town Meeting, March 1977, the Town voted to lease the room in the North ell of the Town Office Building, formerly the village school house, to the Society.
In 1986, Lewis and Ida Haskell offered to donate their private museum consisting of a country store and carriage shed built as an ell onto their home. The gift included all the Haskell property, including their home, in exchange for a life's lease on their living quarters with garden space. With the acceptance of that gift, there was now a community museum named the North Island Museum.
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In the years following, the North Island Museum expanded to include a barn for displaying items from North Haven's agricultural past and a boatshed to exhibit a collection of island boats. In 2008, with the great generosity of members, friends, year-round and summer residents, the North Haven Historical Society constructed a climate controlled Archives Building located next door to the North Island Museum. The Archives Building includes a library, fire-proof vault, and meeting room large enough to host programs and exhibits all year round.
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