SPRINGVALE — Imagine canning early vegetables and making jams and jellies in the heat of the summer, without the modern convenience of air conditioning.

Think about doing all that work, and then carrying all those the canning jars down to the cellar, for winter storage.

That scenario played out in homes all over the country for many years and in some homes, still does today.

One enterprising family however, installed a modern convenience to minimize all those extra steps and all that carrying from kitchen to basement with heavy canning jars, by installing a dumbwaiter on a pulley in the early days of the home’s 1899 cnstruction.

The modern convenience was just off the pantry of the Edmund  E. Goodwin house, now owned by the Sanford Springvale Historical Society. The home is open to the public for viewing at various periods throughout the year.

Refurbishment of the of the gum wood dumbwaiter is the last piece of the restoration of the turn-of-the-century home since the society acquired it in 2014.

Historical society President Harland Eastman said the seven-shelf dumbwaiter had been dismantled, and was in the basement. The restoration was accomplished through a donation from the Mapes family.

The home itself  has been called a historic treasure, typical of the late 19th century. It had remained in the same family until it was sold to the historical society, and it still sports the original woodwork. It has an original pocket door, mantel and the original staircase and balusters, and more. 

Jonathan Mapes said he and his wife Lesa were happy to contribute.

“Without Harland and the (historical) committee, much of our community’s history would be lost,” Mapes said.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].