NORWAY — The late Ashley Everett of Norway was the quintessential “good neighbah.” He was born in 1923 and lived in his family’s Whitman Street home for 90 of his 94 years.
Everett passed away in 2018. His neighborhood has changed dramatically over the last 100 years but his home was a relic, lingering as it began to quietly crumble into the past.
If not for a new housing cooperative that recently invested in Everett’s ramshackle homestead, memories of the neighborhood icon may have been eventually lost.
Instead, with fresh stewards arriving to reinvigorate his home, Everett’s legacy reemerged as his old neighbors have shared stories of his friendship and generosity with their eventual new neighbors.
33 Whitman Street in Norway. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat
Norway Equitable Housing Cooperative stakeholders saw the Everett property as a solution to help solve western Maine’s housing crisis. The site was large enough to build multi-unit apartments on and an easy walking distance to Norway’s business and commercial district.
Before initiating a purchase, NEHC resolved to reach out to Whitman Street residents to gauge reception to an affordable housing cooperative. Their door-to-door informational campaign gave way to a crush of remembrances of Everett as his neighbors recalled how he touched their lives.
“Ashley Everett was well known in the neighborhood,” Thea Hart, lead coordinator for NEHC said. “We have heard beautiful stories about him. He was known as the Chicken Man, because he raised chickens and supplied everyone with fresh eggs. He also kept a large garden, handing out vegetables to his neighbors. He would go out of his way to help others, and people still remember it.”
Everett never married or had children of his own but made Whitman Street his extended family.
NEHC posted anecdotal stories from Whitman Street residents about Everett and his home on its website, where his reputation for generosity: giving friends a ride in bad weather, removing denning skunks from their barns and sharing his birthday cakes with youngsters, will live on. Among the other pursuits he is remembered for are his avid hunting and fishing as well as his always-present pack of hound dogs.
“The support our new neighbors offer us now is proof that some part of his dying breed lives on, and they are Ashley’s legacy in action. They have shared ideas for fundraising, kept an eye on the property for us, volunteered their kids and scout troops to help clean and demo,” NEHC’s website reads. “And even gone so far as … misdirecting folk from out of state who inquired about buying the lot before us.
“We are inspired and re-ignited to continue blazing this trail, knowing that our neighbors share our concerns about the lack of housing in our area and are here to help. The stories and the support they have shared exemplify our cooperative values of concern for community and make us proud to make this neighborhood our future home.”
Even before Everett made 33-35 Whitman Street a source of fresh food food and generosity, it served another begone era of Norway residents.
“Ashley’s home was the former Bennett Carriage shop, built as a residence and a shop, circa 1889 by George Bennett,” said Sue Denison, director for the Norway Historical Society who counts Ashley’s late younger sister Muriel as a dear friend. “George built his house and workshop on Whitman Street in 1889. His obituary in 1934 recalled the carriage shop as ‘a hospital for broken down vehicles, sleighs and almost anything of wooden construction requiring repairs or paint.'”
George Bennet built his house and carriage workshop at 33-35 Whitman Street in 1889. In 1927 Ashley Everett’s family bought the property and he lived there for 90 years. Credit Norway Historical Society
“Ashley’s nephews, Mike and Tom Dignan, thought our plan to build cooperative housing on his land was a great idea,” said Hart. “We are extremely thankful to them for carrying on their uncle’s tradition of looking after his neighbors.”
The old Ashley Everett place will eventually become a home to new generations of families and individuals young and old. And memories of the old-school Norway character will never fade.
“It’s a legacy neighborhood,” said Hart. “People have taken care of us like he took care of others.”
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