200 Years of South Berwick Main Street

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From fighting fires to collecting taxes, from stagecoach taverns to railroad depots, from former churches and schools that turned into town halls, and the storefronts that still contain businesses today -- Main Street holds two hundred years of stories. (click title for more) 

In a new bicentennial exhibit at the Counting House Museum, “Main Street, South Berwick: 200 Years of Downtown History,” the Old Berwick Historical Society presents highlights from its museum collection of about 10,000 documents and photographs on local history, and about 1,000 historic objects.

The Counting House is staffed by historical society volunteers from 1:00 to 4:00 pmon weekends and other times by appointment. Admission is by donation.

Many tales and little-known facts collected since South Berwick’s founding in 1814 are in store for the visitor in the new exhibit.  On the night of July 25-26, 1870, for instance, much of downtown burned to the ground in a fire that citizens fought with buckets dunked in a nearby stream. The South Berwick Fire Department loaned a historic fire bucket for the new exhibit.

In 1951, another fire destroyed town hall, including hundreds of municipal records.  The building was a former Universalist Church that stood near the present location of South Berwick Post Office.  The structure was one of several former town halls located in former schools and churches—including the present town hall building, built in 1926 as St. Michael’s Parochial School.

In 1814 as today, explained historical society member Cari Quater, who created the exhibit, Main Street has above all been a transportation hub.

“South Berwick came into being around 1814 because it was the gateway to Maine,” said Quater, explaining that with no bridges yet built at the mouth of the Piscataqua, travelers entering Maine from the south had to come this way. “Though nowhere near today’s traffic volume of over 10,000 vehicles per day, it was still busy.

“Many of today’s downtown locations had a prior association with stage coaches, electric trolleys, even steam locomotives,” she said, adding that the southbound portion of today’s busy Route 236 or Harold L. Dow Highway was originally laid out in 1849 as the Portsmouth, Saco and Portland Railroad Company.

The bicentennial exhibit is expected to be on display for two years, with regular weekend hours through mid-October. Also at the Counting House are an archaeology display, an exhibit on trades of South Berwick from the 1600s through the 1900s, and a World War II love story.

For more information or to schedule a visit outside the regular weekend hours, is available from the Old Berwick Historical Society at 207-384-0000.