It officially is the end of an era.

Municipal officials acknowledged Tuesday that Freeport’s long-standing motto, the “Birthplace of Maine,” is nothing more than colorful fiction.

The claim had been suspect for more than a decade. Even the Daughters of the American Revolution — the group that embroidered Freeport with the claim 100 years ago — has renounced its validity.

But by Town Council resolution Tuesday, and subsequent instruction to remove the motto from its municipal seal, the town acknowledged the motto is bogus.

Legend had it that representatives from the Joint Commission of Massachusetts and Maine met over ale at the Jameson Tavern, established in 1779, to discuss separating into individual states. But no documentation or otherwise credible proof of such a confab ever has been found.

It’s about time to give up that particular ghost, said Freeport Historical Society Executive Director Christina White.

“The DAR has been banging that drum for about 15 years now,” White told The Times Record this week. “The high school’s history classes have been conversing for two years about this issue, this myth, and this year they decided it was something they wanted to take up for study.”

Jameson Tavern closed suddenly in February, a casualty of diminishing business and rising prices. When it did, it presented an opportunity for Geoff Dyhrberg to set his honors-level American studies class — a combination of American literature and U.S. history — on a quest to discover the motto’s source.

“It was just something that dropped in our lap, an authentic learning experience,” Dyhrberg said. “We took advantage of the opportunity to have kids look at local history and facilitate a discussion about it.”

Twenty-two students presented their results in May during a National Honor Society induction ceremony.

In addition to finding no particular source for the “Birthplace” claim, students also proffered their own proposals for substitutes. They ranged from sober to satirical, with audience members at the induction ceremony voting on the top three for presentation to the Town Council.

Dalton Chapman’s offer — “Freeport: Less Flammable Than We Used To Be” — originated from attempts to view places he learned about during interviews with older Freeporters.

“Each time he’d ask about a place (the interview subject) had just finished telling him about, the response was, ‘Ah, that place burned down years ago,’” Dyhrberg said.

Others played upon the town’s transition from shoe manufacturing to retail sales: “Freeport? Nah, L.L. Beanport.”

Most of the slogan proposals were connected to maritime history, outdoor recreation or tourism.

Two of the three finalists from May — Chapman and Shelby Sawyer — presented their slogans and research to the council Tuesday.

Sawyer’s idea was “Heart of Vacationland,” and reading for Katie McLellan who couldn’t attend, “Open Harbors, Open Hearts.”

White, the historical society director, said she expects the town’s search for a new motto to be an exciting and unprecedented process.

When she called the Maine Municipal Agency to inquire about the process, she was told there isn’t one.

What’s more, the person she spoke to at MMA said she’d never before been asked.

“The DAR ladies care deeply about credibility, and rigors surrounding the process really weren’t there 100 years ago,” White said.

In renouncing the birthplace claim, a statement from the DAR explained that “the Maine State DAR readily acknowledges that the information on the Jameson Tavern plaque is inaccurate” and that they are “wholly unsubstantiated and appear to be based on myth.”

Approval for such a plaque today “would never be sought and most certainly never granted.”

Councilor Sarah Tracy suggested that Freeport should contact other communities — such as Saco, Biddeford, South Portland, Lewiston- Auburn and, just this week, Portland — that recently have undergone “rebranding” efforts to find out what worked for them.

“By the way,” Councilor Rich DeGrandpre interjected before Chapman and Sawyer left, “there used to be 12 filling stations in Freeport. So, at one point, we did used to be a lot more flammable.”

jtleonard@timesrecord.com