The Top Museums and Historic Sites in Augusta, Maine

A trip to Augusta, Maine may be a little short on glamor, but there are some nice cultural sites to see. For the historically minded there are the Maine State Museum and Old Fort Western. For the arts and letters minded there is the Maine State Library, which houses a Writers of Maine Collection, and the Kennebec Historical Society.  For fun-loving children there is the Maine Discovery Museum.

The Maine State Museum, in Augusta, chronicles the history of labor and technology in early Maine, but, first, the story of 12,000 years of Maine history is described, bolstered by fossils like a walrus skull.  Along the way, wildlife of Maine is given due attention with discussion of animals like beaver and moose. Special tribute is then paid to the Franco-American citizens who came down from Canada to provide the labor force for the then large Maine textile industry. A prominent display of a full-sized and authentic textile loom gives a three-dimensional look at the intricacies and the complexities of working in the newly industrialized textile industry. A steam-engine locomotive, the crux of commerce transportation, is also on display. Other Maine industries are featured, like Maine logging and farming, and Maine ship building. But the central eye-catcher is the re-assembled 1840's water-powered woodworking mill.

Additionally, the Maine State Museum shows off impressive and extensive exhibits of glassware and gemstones. In the glassware exhibit, visitors can see examples of such things as spatter glass, Portland Glass Company vases, English colonial glass, opalescent glass eprene, and Tiffany or Steuben iridescent glass. Coarse-grained granite, called pegmatites produces a lovely array of Maine gemstones including tourmaline, rose quartz and amethyst. These provide a soothing final survey before taking leave of the exhibits and collections of the Maine State Museum.