"Preserving Life the Way It Was"
Islanders at Play
Mission
The overall mission of the Historical Society is to discover, collect, preserve, exhibit, and interpret materials and objects pertaining to the history of the town of Swan’s Island, Maine and to sponsor and encourage public education, publications and public interest in the history of the town.
Events
About Us
The Swan's Island Historical Society (SIHS) was originally part of the Swan’s Island Educational Society (SIES). In July 2019, the Historical Society separated from the Educational Society and became its own not-for-profit entity.
The Swan's Island Historical Society originally operated out of the old Captain Henry Lee residence, which was given to us by the Department of Transportation. This building originally housed both the museum and the library of the Educational Society. Starting in 1986, the Town of Swan's Island allowed the Educational Society to operate a museum out of the Seaside Hall. Seaside Hall was subsequently sold, and the collection was moved back to the Educational Society building.
Sadly, that building was struck by lightning on July 24, 2008 and many valuable artifacts were lost.
However, we saved what they could and continued to collect and archive artifacts and oral interviews.
In October 2019, SIHS purchased the Methodist church building and began plans for renovating the building and re-opening a museum. In July 2021, SIHS opened the museum and hosted numerous events and exhibits during the season.
How You Can Help
Volunteer
We really need volunteers to help us keep our museum open. Don’t worry! The only skill you need is the ability to talk to folks! The rest is easy. Islander, summer resident, visitor…no worries.
We also need folks to transcribe the wonderful oral histories and interviews we’ve collected. All you need to do is listen to the recordings and type them into Word docs.
How about helping at a fund raiser? We’re always coming up with more fun ways to bring people to our great museum and can always use more help at these events.
Financial Support
Now more than ever, we need your financial support. Whether it’s buying an ice cream at our ice cream social, finding a treasure at our yard sale or just making a donation to help us continue to capture and display our wonderful island history and memories.
Collections
Share Your Artifacts
We are always interested in obtaining new and interesting artifacts of Swan’s Island life.
If you have something you think might be of interest, please contact Gwen May at gwenm@swansislandhistory.org