ARUNDEL -Two historic farmhouses made the move Sunday from their original foundations at two separate locations on Alfred Street to new quarters a half-mile away on Limerick Road.
The move tied up traffic at several points, but the day-long operation went off without any major complications. Halfway through the day, Paul Poirier, owner of the moving company Poirier Inc. of Saco, was pronouncing the maneuvers a success.
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“It’s going very smoothly,” Poirier said.
The two houses, donated to the Arundel Historical Society, were carried by a tractor-trailer to the new three-acre site at the intersection of Limerick Road and Alfred Street, where they will be the center of a historical complex known as North Chapel Common.
The historical society is in the midst of raising $210,000 to place the farmhouses and a barn on new foundations and build a replica of the original North Chapel Church, which once stood in the same area.
The homes include the 1795 Burnham homestead, once the site of a post office and probably a stagecoach inn, said Jake Hawkins, historical society director, and the smaller 1798 Lunt farmstead. Both were owned by the descendants of the original owners until they were donated to the historical society a few years ago after the property was sold.
The neighborhood is dominated by rolling centuries-old fields, marked by family cemeteries and soaring elm trees.
Work to move the white wooden-clapboard structures began months ago. Historical society director Dana Peck coordinated the complicated logistics. Meanwhile, Poirier drilled holes in the foundations of both houses, placed them on steel beams and essentially built trailers beneath them.
The Burnham house was towed a half-mile west down Alfred Street. The Lunt home was towed about a quarter-mile east from its original Alfred Street location.
Although no skeletons in the basement or interesting relics were uncovered during the moves, the historical society recovered 37 cents in coins from the structures.
“Which we put in the bank,” said Donna der Kinderen, a historical society director who lives next door to the future site of North Chapel Common.
Der Kinderen said every little bit helps toward the society’s fundraising goal, which has a long way to go. The society has an ambitious calendar of bean suppers, yard sales and auctions planned for the coming months.
Much of the work on Sunday was by volunteers and donors. Scot MacDonald of Arundel donated the survey work, Phil Labbe of Arundel provided driveway preparation and Will Conway of Kennebunk donated architect services.
The only delay Sunday was caused by some extra maneuvering as the Burnham House made the turn onto Limerick Road, blocking traffic for about an hour both ways on busy Alfred Street, also known as Route 111. Many motorists turned around to seek alternate routes, but others stayed put to watch the operation.
“What else are we doing to do on a Sunday morning?” said Gerry Bucklin of Waterboro, out for a drive with her husband, Rod Bucklin.
Bucklin said she has been watching the preparations whenever she passes by the farmhouses and is curious to see how the new complex takes shape.
Staff Writer Beth Quimby can be contacted at 791-6363 or at:
bquimby@pressherald.com
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