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The Redington Museum or Redington House is a historic house and
museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...
in Waterville,
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
that is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. The museum is the headquarters of the Waterville Historical Society. Built in 1814, it is one of the best-preserved houses of the period in the city. It has served since 1924 as the museum and headquarters of the Waterville Historical Society, and was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1978. The museum is listed on the official website of the Maine Office of Tourism.


Location

The museum is open between
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and
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from Tuesday to Saturday. Visitors are supposed to enter during the tour times, which are at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. In practice, they may allow admission other times. Therefore, one should be prepared to visit as if they had an appointment for a specific time although the
curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...
s may allow other visitors to enter. There is an admission charge of $5 for adults 18 and older. Children 17 and younger are free when accompanied by an adult. The museum is located at 62 Silver Street about 2 blocks south of downtown Waterville, about one block south of the funeral home.


Exhibits

The Redington Museum offers a comprehensive view of life in New England and Waterville, Maine during the past two centuries. There are collections of furniture, accessories, household artifacts, toys, tools, and weapons as well as historical papers and diaries. The main building is designed in the Federal-style of architecture. The museum is maintained by the Waterville Historical Society. The museum is essentially a historic house that has period furniture and exhibits about the Waterville area as well as a replica pharmacy building near the site where the original building once stood. The curators are a couple who live on the premises. The museum is a two-story white shingled house built in 1814. The exhibits include old furniture and curios from the 1800s. The museum opened in 1927. It is part of the National Register of Historic Places. The Waterville Historical Society keeps its collection of books and manuscripts at the museum. There is a collection of rare old maps of the area available for scholarly research.


Description and history

The Redington House stands on the southeast side of Silver Street (
Maine State Route 137 State Route 137 (SR 137) is a route that runs for west to east that begins at the intersection of U.S. Route 2 (US 2) in Mercer and covers a large expanse of land, ending in the city of Belfast at an interchange with US 1 and ...
) in central Waterville, between Western Avenue and Silver Place. It is a -story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof, two interior brick chimneys, clapboard siding, and granite foundation. The front facade is five bays wide, with the outer bays closely spaced but offset from the center. The entrance, at the center, is sheltered by a single-story porch which extends across the center three bays, and is supported by fluted Ionic columns with an ornate wooden railing above. Most of the windows are sash, but that above the entrance is flanked by sidelights. The interior retains original period finishes. Extending to the rear of the main block are later wood frame additions. with The museum is housed in a two-story home built in 1814 by pioneer Waterville settler Asa Redington, a veteran of three enlistments in the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
and a member of
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
's elite Honor Guard. After the victory against the English, he developed the water rights at Ticonic Falls and with his sons, Samuel and William, established a thriving flour mill on the banks of the
Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 natural river within the U.S. state of Ma ...
. The father of six sons and three daughters, Asa built this substantial home for his son William. Fashioned of great hewn timbers, all hand pegged, it still features the original spiral staircase, fireplaces with period woodwork, and floors of wide pumpkin pine. The newel post in the entrance exhibits the "contractor's peace stone," a small smooth polished stone signifying in Colonial times that the project had been completed to both the owner's and builder's satisfaction. Today, five rooms are furnished with antiques of the late 18th and early 19th centuries from the Redington family, the family of pioneer attorney Timothy Boutelle, the family of revolutionary war veteran Jabez Mathews, and from other early local families. It remained in the hands of Redington's descendants until 1924, when it was given to the Waterville Historical Society by Mrs. William Redington. The society now uses it as its headquarters and museum.


See also

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National Register of Historic Places listings in Kennebec County, Maine This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Kennebec County, Maine. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Kennebec County, Maine, Kenneb ...


References

{{Reflist


External links


Museum website
with photographs of the exterior and inside rooms Historic house museums in Maine Museums in Kennebec County, Maine Houses in Kennebec County, Maine Buildings and structures in Waterville, Maine Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Kennebec County, Maine Federal architecture in Maine Houses completed in 1814 Waterville, Maine