Freedom Community Historical Society

Freedom Community Historical Society is getting ready to run an online auction fundraiser.
The Auction begins at 8 am on Saturday October 22 and will continue until 8pm on Sunday October 28th. The links as below.

Mission

The mission of Freedom Community Historical Society (FCHS) is to research, preserve, interpret and make alive the rich cultural history of Freedom, Maine and involve the community in reaching toward a renewed future. We seek to accomplish our mission through identifying and preserving historically significant buildings and sites; building and maintaining archive collections of oral, print, photographic, and digital resources; sponsoring educational programs, exhibits, and events; collaborating with other town and neighboring organizations; creating and maintaining a web presence of our resources; and seeking volunteer and financial support through local and foundation sources. The Freedom Community Historical Society celebrates and preserves Maine’s small town legacy. Despite our very important work of physically restoring buildings from our past, we also preserve the records - the story - that reminds us that the roots of small-town values run deep. Our goal is to shine a light on that legacy: to re-engage our volunteers, to engage our youth and their schools, and to use technology to share the richness of our past - to rekindle and celebrate our heritage. In our own small way, our Historical Society wants to contribute to that renewal!

The FCHS collection provides glimpses of community social organization from the local church, fire department, Women's Auxiliary, and (of course) Freedom Academy also date back nearly 150 years from the 1870s. The inventory also includes a unique genealogical resource - complete cemetery inventories from twelve local towns, compiled in the by N.R. Elliott of Freedom in the 1970s and '80s. The collections are all currently housed in a secure space in the Town Voting Hall, awaiting completion of the Keen Hall project.
They document Freedom's 19th century representing resource-based manufacturing heritage (lumber mills, grist mills, and vegetable & baked bean canning). Records from the Dirigo Grange preserve the traditions of the town's agricultural legacy that continues to this day. Town ledgers provide house-to- house descriptions of daily life - livestock, personal property, and real estate -- dating for over 100 years from the 1880s.

Our Story

In 1976 in observance of the National Bicentennial year, a small group of Maine citizens were inspired to organize the Freedom Historical Society.
In July 2013, the Society led the Town in planning, organizing and implementing "Let Freedom Ring," Freedom's Bicentennial Celebration. That celebration brought the whole Town together in a spirit of cooperation and renewed sense of pride in our history.
In 2015 FCHS became a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit entity, enabling donors to make qualified tax- deductible contributions.
Since 2010, the Freedom Community Historical Society has focused its efforts on restoring two historic buildings in our small (pop. 704), rural community in western Waldo County and on assembling an impressive archival collection documenting 150 years of our town's heritage. 
Restoration of the 1853 Old Town Meeting House (2011-2013)< Restoration of Keen Hall – the current ambitious project to restore the only remaining building of Freedom Academy (1836-1958). Freedom Academy was chartered by the Maine State Legislature the first secondary school in this part of the State in 1837 and is the last remaining local icon of the 120 year educational heritage of Maine's small village high school academies. Keen Hall is recognized by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission as one of “Ten Most Endangered Historically Significant Properties" in Maine and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Park Service.