Director's Note

Welcome to the Autumn Colors!

This summer has been a time of growth and transition. The expanded use of the Barn, growth of staff, and new programmatic avenues have created a bright future for Woodlawn. We have held museum tours, history lecture series, outdoor science programs, community rentals, educator retreats and workshops, three croquet tournaments, and more!

Our croquet program ran its busiest tournaments to date and our Wine and Wickets series saw new audiences introduced to croquet and Woodlawn. The Barn has hosted a wide variety of programs and events and we are excited to look back on the summer and learn what else we can offer.

Our Autumn Gold event was a huge success. We engaged with the public at Harbor Park and across Woodlawn’s campus for our scavenger hunt and open house.

All of this was possible thanks to the generosity of our supporters and community members. Stay tuned for an appeal and consider a gift to allow us to continue to offer a variety of programs to our community. The staff and Board believe deeply in the work being done at Woodlawn. The community response has only strengthened that belief and encouraged us to continue the momentum of this critically important institution. Through the end of 2024 we look forward to hosting our Forest Festival on October 19th and our holiday programming in December.

As we look ahead to 2025, we will be balancing the museum, education programs, community events, and trails. We will also seek to grow rental opportunities in the Barn. Each of these elements of Woodlawn are what makes our site unique. With your support we can continue to grow while maintaining the quality of our current offerings. Please consider a gift this year to help ensure the future of Woodlawn as we enter this exciting new phase. Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to welcoming

you to Woodlawn soon.

With gratitude,

Evan Moats

Executive Director 

Autumn Gold 2024

From the Archives

John Black’s Lumber Trade

During the month of October, Woodlawn celebrates the forest and the connection that John Black had with the lumber industry with events such as the Forest Festival.

Two hundred years ago, John Black was heavily invested in all aspects of the lumber industry. As the Bingham estate land agent, he controlled timber harvesting on nearly 1 million acres in Hancock County. Personally, Black employed teams of men to cut timber for him and drive the logs down the Union River to his own sawmills for processing into lumber. Finally, the lumber was load onto his ships and taken to markets along the east coast.

The Black Family Papers document Ellsworth’s lumber business in great detail. Of special interest are records kept by the foreman of Black’s sawmills during the time that Woodlawn was under construction (1825-1827). Entries such as this one are typical:

“Shore middle and stream middle saws going regular last night, no accident, this morning [three] saws going sawing pine and spruce from 3 to 4 inches thick…at eight o’clock rafted [lumber] for the [schooner] Hope…after noon rafted pine boards for the Colonel’s Barn…five thousand and eighteen sticks of timbers for the Cols. House…one man clears away the slabs from the stream side, one clears the sawdust from under the mill… two men running rafts met with considerable difficulty on the falls, got one raft over…Put two saws in order for the night going until twelve o’clock [midnight] to make the Hope’s load by next Wednesday….”

Other entries are about blasting rocks on the riverbank; purchasing supplies for the mills; making repairs to the saws, water wheels and sluices; and the water height which was critical to sawmill operations. There are notes about mill workers permitted 2 1/2 hours off from work to attend a funeral as well as evidence of attempts at lumber poaching. The daily records are filled with details, but leave to our imagination the noise, sights and smells that accompanied all that work.

Sawing, building staging, and fixing mill building windows. September 1825

Upcoming Events

Forest Festival

Our 2nd annual Forest Festival is coming up on October 19th!

This event is full of lots of FREE activities for all ages with a focus on the forest including the Axe Women Logging Show, Kate McCann and Chewonki.

This event also includes family friendly activities with partner organizations Acadia National Park, The Dorr Museum, and Maine Tree.

Darling's Ice Cream Truck from 10AM-12PM

Yoga at The Barn

Starting in October, we are pleased to offer evening yoga classes! Join us for Tuesday Transformational Yoga, a beginner friendly vinyasa flow, every other Tuesday at 5:30pm.

Class dates in October will be October 8 & October 22.

Please bring a mat and water bottle!

History Lecture Series

Curator/Operations Manager for the Bangor Historical Society, Matt Bishop, will be discussing the history and impact of Bangor upon the lumber industry, both locally and nationally. 

The presentation will include slides and pictures showing Bangor's rise to being the "Lumber Capital of the World" as well as its decline.  

Science Lecture Series

Sponsored by The Jackson Laboratory

New England Flying Squirrel Network



Have you ever seen a flying squirrel? They may be living right in your backyard! Join C.J. Wong, an Assistant Professor at the University Library and Graduate Student in Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of New Hampshire to learn about flying squirrels and how you can get involved in a participatory science flying squirrel nest box research project. Find out how to make and put up a nest box to monitor flying squirrel populations and send in your data about these rarely seen nocturnal animals.

Space is limited. An email will be sent about a week before the event with additional information. 

Photo credit: Flying Squirrel Photo by Alan Audet, a New England Flying Squirrel Network participant in Poland, ME.

Tom Wessels: Reading the Forested Landscape Walk

Tom Wessels, professor emeritus at Antioch University New England, has authored six books, several focusing on forest ecology in New England. Tom is best known for his work with forests, but he also has a strong interest in desert, arctic and alpine ecosystems.

On Thursday, October 17, from 9:00-11:00 AM, Tom will lead guided walks on the trails at Woodlawn, discussing the natural history of the area, how to interpret natural features and what those features can tell us about

the past.

Educator Workshop

Trees and Me Workshop

Woodlawn is hosting a Trees and ME educator workshop in partnership with the Maine TREE Foundation and Project Learning Tree, on October 26 from

8:30AM-12PM.

This FREE workshop for educators of children ages 1-6 is full of fun hands-on activities that connect young children to nature with a focus on trees and the forest. This workshop includes an activity filled guide that you can take home.

To learn more about the Trees and ME program visit the Project Learning Tree website: https://www.plt.org/curriculum/preschool-learning-experiences-trees-nature/

Space is limited to 10 teachers and pre-registration is required. 

Woodlawn

P.O. Box 1478

Ellsworth, Maine 04605

(207) 667-8671

For general questions, click here