CHESTERVILLE – The Chesterville Center Union Meeting House, in collaboration with the Chesterville Heritage Society, will be hosting a presentation by John Mosher, archaeologist for the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, Tuesday, September 10, at 7:30 p.m. The Meeting House is located at 3 Borough Road in Chesterville. Mr. Mosher will be discussing and sharing the Commission’s findings at the Chesterville and Farmington Falls field site located at the Route 41 and 156 bridge over the Sandy River in Farmington Falls. The field work was performed during 2018 and 2019 in advance of the Maine Department of Transportation’s planned bridge project at that location scheduled to begin in 2020.
The archaeological survey found evidence of an Amesokanti village, a circa 1795 cellar on the front lawn of the Nazarene Church parsonage, and numerous mill remains on the Chesterville side of the bridge. The presentation will include an overview of the legislation behind the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, the planning process of an archaeological survey, the research behind an investigation, and how the Commission’s work illuminates the history of pre-European contact Maine and the politics of the British, French, and Abenaki communities of the 17th and 18th centuries. More specifically, Mr. Mosher will provide insight to the founding of Farmington Falls and the industrial complex that arose on the banks of the Sandy River.
Born in Millinocket, John Mosher holds B.A. in Geography and Anthropology and a master’s degree in American and New England Studies from the University of Southern Maine. He has participated in graduate work at the Quaternary Institute under direction of Dr. Kristin Sobolik at the University of Maine, and has worked for the Maine Historic Preservation Commission since 2001. His lecture at the Chesterville Center Union Meeting House is free and open to the public.
The Chesterville Center Union Meeting House is a non-profit community resource and is A.D.A. accessible. Donations to support the work of the Meeting House and the Chesterville Heritage Society are gratefully accepted. For more information visit www.chestervillemeetinghouse.org or call 207 779-0660.
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