About Matthews Museum

About Matthews Museum

Referred to as "the area's best-kept secret", the Matthews Museum of Maine Heritage has been acclaimed as one of New England's finest museums. This excellent museum has something for people of all ages; offering Senior Citizens the opportunity to drift on a wave of nostalgia, and youngsters to wonder and learn about lifestyles in the 18th century.

The original 900-piece collection was purchased from Union native, Edwards A. Matthews in the early 1960s. It included antique tools, vehicles and kitchen utensils dating back more than 100 years. Included is a cameragraph, a 35 mm silent motion picture film projector was first operated at the old Union Town Hall. Plus many innovative homemade inventions which lend credence to the term "Yankee ingenuity". Edward A. Matthews examining one of the many artifacts purchased in 1964. Since that time additional items have been loaned or donated, creating a well-rounded collection of over 8,000 articles relevant to colonial Maine.

Interior space is sectioned into booths displaying implements having similar uses. Accented by background of weathered-board walls, an 18th century blacksmith shop, copper shop, cobbler shop, country kitchen, and library are depicted as they may have been 100 years ago. Spinning wheels, a weaving Loom, a folding, tin bath tub complete with heater unit), cradles, sleighs, sleds (twelve foot long sled used at Union in winter taking six or more riders down the hill, across the common, to Depot Street and on to the cemetary), carts, wagons. carriages, a horse-drawn hearse, clothes, film-making equipment, rope beds, stoves, an organ (played regularly during Union Fair and on special occasions), jewelry, and dolls are only a few items that take the viewer back in time.

One special section holds Moxie memorabilia honoring the Union man, Dr. Augustin Thompson, who, in 1876, invented the one-time patent medicine, Moxie Nerve Food, which is now sold as a soft drink.

With farm wagons, sleds and a variety of horse-drawn vehicles, the carriage barn features the one-horse shay; one of only two in existence - the second being displayed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. DC. Both carriages, stenciled by a native Union man, were built in 1850 by Collins, Wingate, Little & Co. The firm later became known as Wingate & Simmons Carriage Shop, Union, Maine.

Adjacent to the Museum is the Hodge School, a one-room schoolhouse in its original structure and interior decor. The school operated from 1864 to 1954.