The General Henry Knox Museum begins expansion program

Village Soup ^ | Montpelier, The General Henry Knox Museum

[Pharmboy]

THOMASTON (March 17): Montpelier, the General Henry Knox Museum, is about to take a significant first step in implementing a Long-Range Capital Improvements Plan at its prominent site at the intersection of Routes 1 and 131 south.

A $230,000 anonymous grant will make possible a relocated entrance to the property, installation of period cannons and two flagpoles; a paved parking area for 30 vehicles; walking paths, new landscaping, lighting and educational markers; and restoration of the original east elevation porch of Montpelier, providing for a visitors' entrance on the main level of the building. Work will begin soon and is expected to be completed by July. Engineering and surveying work is by the Rockport firm of Gartley & Dorsky.

The educational markers will be modeled after those used for Thomaston's Museum in the Streets, a creation of Patrick Cardon, the museum's co-vice chairman. He has been a primary contributor to the development of the long-range plan.

Overseeing the project is Herb Duncan of Rockport, a retired architect and a member of the Museum's Development Committee. "We want to build up interest in that big house, where it often looks like nobody's home," he said.

This work is a prelude to more expansive--and more expensive--work. The showpiece of the Long-Range Plan will be the reconstruction of the North Parish Meeting House, to serve as the museum's visitor and education center. Knox helped pay for the original meeting house, erected in 1796 and razed in the 1960s. Renny Stackpole, former museum chairman and trustee and now leading the museum's new Center for the Study of Early American History, said the rebirth of the meeting house in a location very close to the original, where Knox himself worshiped, would honor the town's past as well as provide space for exhibits, programming, a research library, a gift shop, meeting space and offices.

The exterior of the Meeting House, as viewed from Route 131, will replicate the old building, and there will be a small contemporary foyer at the back, close to the parking area. Plans even call for re-mounting the meeting house's original Paul Revere bell in the rebuilt steeple. The building's interior will be very different, of course, and designed for new uses.

Phase II of the Long-Range Plan, projected to take as long as nine years, are gardens, including one designed (but never built) by the office of Frederick Law Olmsted for the re-created Montpelier, a Revolutionary War encampment site, an armory; a General's Store; extensive site-wide landscaping, and a maintenance building.

Trustees hope this spring's project of improving the site's appearance and access will increase visitor traffic and have a positive impact generally.

"Implementing this first phase is the linchpin for everything else in the long-range plan," Duncan said. "We have to build up the interest base."

Montpelier opened in 1931, the result of hard work by townsfolk and the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the generosity of publishing magnate Cyrus H.K. Curtis. The building is a reconstruction of the one built in 1794 by Knox, Revolutionary War hero and the country's first Secretary of War, at the base of Knox Street on the banks of the St. George River. Knox Street, in fact, was Knox's driveway. His local business endeavors, which provided employment for many local residents, included real estate, farming, brick making, lime quarrying, shipping and road building. His fame, his wife's wealth and District of Maine connection (her family owned 570,000 acres, the Waldo Patent), and his robust, outgoing personality gave him what today might be called a host-of-the-Midcoast reputation. He died in 1806, at the age of 56. The original Montpelier deteriorated and was razed in 1871, making way for the railroad; only one of its original outbuildings is extant, now the home of the Thomaston Historical Society.

Duncan said the motivation for his recent involvement with Montpelier was, in fact, the story of the building's history. Long active in historic restoration in Missouri, he said he had never heard of a historic building being reconstructed in such a way. "It's such a wonderfully bizarre story that the current Montpelier is even there. It's a huge credit to Thomaston that the people thought enough of their own history to recreate the building. I'd never heard of anything quite like it," he said.

Before moving to Rockport full time three years ago, Duncan was a part-time resident. Like many, he said, he drove past Montpelier year after year, put off by its majesty and the surrounding austerity, never stopping. That prevailing sentiment is in the introduction to the long-range plan:

"It is impossible to miss Montpelier on its high hill when a visitor drives north on U.S. Route 1. Unfortunately, this historic building appears to have no life and no visible activity. There is no appeal except the classic look of a period exterior to encourage anyone to stop, visit and to appreciate the full impact of a very special place."

Numbers bear this out. Visitor numbers at the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland and the Owls Head Transportation Museum, major Midcoast destinations, far surpass those at Montpelier, The General Henry Knox Museum. In an effort to help get the word out, the museum has become a partner at the Gateway Center on Park Drive in Rockland, home of the Maine Lighthouse Museum and the Maine Discovery Center, which highlights area attractions.

"We know there is huge potential at Montpelier, and implementing the long-range plan should help us realize it," Stackpole said.

Museum officials have consulted with Earle G. Shettleworth Jr., director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and also the state's official historian, about their ideas for the site. "I am excited about the plans … to continue the restoration of The General Henry Knox Museum as well as to make significant improvements to the grounds," he said.

For decades the Knox Memorial Association and then the state operated the museum. The Friends of Montpelier took over that function in the 1980s and acquired ownership in 1999. In the last five years, the positions of museum manager and curator and education director have been created and filled. Volunteers continue to be the backbone of the organization, serving as docents, clerks in the gift shop, and planners and participants in an increasing number of events. In 2002 a tradition of significant giving to the museum was established with a challenge grant from the Sunshine Lady Foundation led by Doris Buffett of Camden and Rockport.

Last year, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough's bestseller "1776," which highlighted Knox's leadership and heroism, friendship with George Washington, and important national role, was a boost for the museum. McCullough, a seasonal area resident, presented a talk at Montpelier in July and then recorded an interview with C-SPAN's Brian Lamb in the museum's Oval Room, providing national exposure for the site. The popular historian subsequently inspired Montpelier's new Center for the Study of Early American History, an endeavor made possible by financial support from Buffett. The center's first training institute for Maine teachers of history, in which McCullough will participate, will be based July 18-28 in a tent on Montpelier's spacious lawn, highlighting the site's new improvements and the potential represented in the long-range plan.

Molly Kellogg, the museum's other co-vice chairman, said great strides have been made in the past several years. "The annual budget has roughly doubled, the museum is active year-round, with two regular staff including a professional curator, and it is now a platform for a high-quality educational program guided by David McCullough. Programming has increased dramatically, and the grounds are scheduled for a huge improvement thanks to the anonymous grant."

Further, she said she hopes the work this spring will lead to interest from other donors who will see the need to support the goals of the long-range plan.

"For the state, and even for the country, Montpelier is a much needed center for historical awareness, sadly lacking in today's culture. The museum serves as a reminder of our origins and roots, and the high ideals that should still govern both our public affairs and private standards of living and conduct. For the area, and for Thomaston, an enhanced Montpelier will tie together the historical connections that created and account for the architectural beauty and achievement of this coastal region, and its future potential."

For further information about the long-range plan or the museum, contact Susan Rowling, museum manager, at 354-8062, or Ellen Dyer, curator and education director, at 354-0180.

[Pharmboy]

Always nice to see Henry Knox get recognition.

[Pharmboy]

The short RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington ping list. Please Freepmail me to get ON or OFF this list or the BIG ONE.

[PzLdr]

One of America's greatest, and most underrated, heroes.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

"In 1774, as the situation between Great Britain and the American colonies was heating up, General George Washington inspected a rampart at Roxbury designed by Knox and was instantly taken with the young man's abilities.

Knox soon became Washington's Chief of Artillery, and earned a place in history in the winter of 1776 by carting sixty tons of captured cannon from Fort Ticonderoga in New York to Dorchester Heights, driving the British from Boston Harbor.

Throughout most of the war he was by Washington's side, and eventually rose to Major-General. Following the war he was Washington's choice for the first Secretary at War. They remained life-long friends."
*****
http://www.generalknoxmuseum.org/knoxbio.html

(It also mentions that 10 of his 13 children did not live to adulthood.)

[Pharmboy]

Thanks for posting.

They appear to have made a mistake on that site in the date of Washington's inspection of the rampart. The General did not arrive in the Boston area until early July, 1775.