Maine's Lakes and Mountains
Visiting Waterford, Norway, Buckfield, and Hartford Bicentennial Homes and Places
Tour Highlights
This tour shares pre-statehood homes and a few other structures along the northern portion of Rt. 117 and the surrounding area in Oxford County, starting in Waterford and ending in Hartford.
Be sure to check out what's happening downtown in Norway !
Getting Started
This tour starts at 376 McWain Hill Rd. in Waterford. The tour route is approximately 36 miles and will take roughly 2 hours, depending on if you choose to walk or drive in downtown Norway.
- Each tour stop on the map's address is linked to Google Maps so you can swiftly navigate from location-to-location if you choose Google for mapping. You can also use the address in your car's navigation system.
Be safe and aware of your surroundings whilst driving.
- Many properties on the tour are private places; be respectful of private property and remain on the public way at all times.
Click here to access a printable version of this tour.
Except as otherwise noted in the tour, the source for information about the properties has been gathered from each one’s National Register of Historic Places nomination.
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1
David Warren House
Built ca. 1805, Federal
The David Warren House is typical of Maine's Federal period farmsteads and is two and a half stories with a pitched roof, side ell, and an attached barn. It is the only surviving Federal period house in town.
It was built by Daniel Warren, a veteran of the American Revolution and an early settler of the nearby town of Buckfield. He served 11 terms in the state legislature (Massachusetts, pre-Maine statehood) and served as Hartford's Justice of the Peace. The house remained in the family into the 20th century. The house's interior is well preserved and an excellent example of period interiors in Maine.
2
Enoch Hall House
Built ca. 1790, Federal Cape
The Enoch Hall House, a one-and-a-half story Federal-period cape with a gable roof, was the home of Enoch Hall, a drafter of the Maine State constitution and the Town's representative to the Legislature in 1820-21. Following Hall's death, the property was eventually acquired by William F. Robinson, a farmer who served as a First Lieutenant in the Buckfield militia during the Civil War.
In addition to its historical significance, the second floor of the house includes extensive decorative murals done in the "Porter School" style (named after the renowned itinerant painter Rufus Porter) that appear on the walls and ceilings in the narrow hallway in addition to the two bedrooms.
3
Churchill Bridge
Built ca. 1796
The Churchill Bridge (circa 1797), a dry-laid, rubble stone structure, carries the town road over the Bennett Stream and is significant for being one of only three lintel bridges left in Maine. The total length of the bridge is about 20 feet long with the height over the brook being 5 feet. The span is formed by five massive ledge stones laid on rubble abutments about 7 feet above the stream. Additional rubble is laid above to form the bed of the gravel roadway.
The bridge is believed to have been built around 1797 by William Churchill, whose homestead was located nearby. He apparently built the bridge in exchange for a tax abatement from the town, which still owns and maintains the bridge.
4
Ichabod Bartlett House
Built ca. 1820, Federal Cape
The Ichabod Bartlett House is a wood frame, one-and-a-half-story house. This house is said to have been built by Ichabod Bartlett at Norway Lake. His daughter moved it down to the village about 1831. It later served as a private library open to the public (until 1886).
The house is a contributing structure to the Norway Historic District. View the district's National Register listing .
5
Leavitt Hardware
Built ca. 1816 with alterations in 1851, Federal with Greek Revival/Italianate façade
The Leavitt Hardware Store was built by William Cox in 1816. Cox lived upstairs and had a business in the ground floor. Subsequent owners included William Hobbs and Charles Kimball, a sleigh and carriage maker, who remodeled the front facade in the Greek Revival/Italianate style. William C. Leavitt, a tinsmith and hardware merchant, later purchased the building for his store and became most closely associated with this structure.
The rear wings were added in the 1860s or 1870s as freestanding buildings that were attached the main structure in the first quarter of the 20th century and may gave also been altered. The large perpendicular wing of the structure originally served as a stable and the one-story wing on the east side of the front was added during the same period as the attachment of the rear wings.
The front facade, originally had a central door and flanking display windows; which were temporarily replaced by a central display window and flanking doors before being reverted back to a modern interpretation of the original configuration. Despite these alterations, it is a relatively intact and very important local example of early commercial architecture.
The building is a contributing structure to the Norway Historic District. View the district's National Register listing .
6
Increase Robinson House
Built ca. 1818, Federal
The Increase Robinson House is is significant as the oldest-surviving substantial dwelling in Norway. Built by Increase Robinson, an early lawyer and state legislator, it is a fine vernacular example of Federal style design.
The house was later inherited by Robinson's partner and fellow legislator, who married Robinson's widow. It later became the home of Stephen Cummings, founder of Norway's family of industrialists and later principal town employer.
This house is a contributing structure to the Norway Historic District. View the district's National Register listing .
7
Nathaniel and Elizabeth Bennett House
Built ca. 1792, Federal
The Nathaniel and Elizabeth Bennett House, also known as the Cedarbrook Farm, is considered to have been initially constructed at the end of the 18th century and was enlarged in 1812. The house is a two-story, Federal frame dwelling with a modern ell that extends into an English style barn.
One of the most unique features of the house, which wasn't discovered until a major rehabilitation in the 1970s, is the existence of rather unusual decorative stenciling (a sky blue background arranged with horizontal rows of flower stems with daisy-like buds) in one of the first floor rooms.
The house also associated with Don Carlos Seitz, the a well known newspaper manager and author who graduated from the Liberal Institute in Norway and whose career included stints with the Brooklyn Eagle, the New York Recorder, The Brooklyn World, and the New York World. Seitz operated a gentleman's farm on the property.
8
McWain-Hall House
Built ca. 1800, Federal
The home of one of Waterford's first settlers, David McWain, the McWain-Hall House is a substantial, typical, two-story vernacular Federal style farmhouse with an attached ell and a barn. It is one of the oldest houses in the area. During its heyday at the turn of the 18th century, the farm produced dairy, hogs, and had several orchards. Today, the McWain-Hall House is a historical reminder of the prosperity achieved by some farmers during this time.
McWain acquired the property in 1796 after living permanently on his farm for many years, and the house was built soon after. Despite his substantial land holdings, McWain never married and the property was inherited by his nephew David McWain upon his death. David McWain later built a saw and grist mill on the property.