LIVERMORE FALLS — On Wednesday, June 22, one local museum surprised another with a large donation of historical information.

“It was a big surprise,” Maine’s Paper & Heritage Museum President Greg Bizier told the Livermore Falls Advertiser Thursday morning. “I thought I was just hosting their meeting, giving a tour.”

An anonymous gift of several scrapbooks filled with photographs and information from local paper mills had been donated to the Livermore-Livermore Falls Historical Society, co-president Gary Desjardins told the Livermore Falls Advertiser Wednesday morning.

“There were three major scrapbooks, other smaller ones from the Otis and Androscoggin Mills,” he said. “There was one huge one for the IP mill, way back to its beginning. It was full of pictures detailing the mill’s construction, all kinds of things.”

One book was three feet long, two feet wide and quite thick, he said. The scrapbooks are filled with great details, a lot of history, he added.

“The scrapbooks don’t go along with our mission statement,” Desjardins said. “We gleaned some pictures for the society, decided to donate the other items to the paper museum.”

“The museum is always happy to get something like that,” Bizier said. “It was a really nice donation, it meant a lot to us. I am happy to see museums helping each other out.”

The items donated were overwhelming, he said. Some were from the late 1800s, early 1900s, he noted.

“The museum is open Saturday mornings,” Bizier said. “It will give me a chance to check them out. I am looking forward to being able to take a closer look.

“Really, it is our history, our heritage. We will preserve it for the public to view. Once they have been archived we will make a special display with the items [the historical society] donated.

“Their donation was very much appreciated.”

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