Patten Free Library is reviving its popular local history lecture series, bringing in some new topics this year.

The Patten Free Library is once again presenting the Town History Series, a longstanding tradition that brings locals together to learn about area communities. Towns can revisit topics, but they have to present them in a new way to a new audience that wasn’t there when the first lecture was given, said Patten Free Library Archivist Jack Martin.

Ellen Endter speaks about Alice May Douglas during last year’s Town History Series. Courtesy of Patten Free Library

The Town of Arrowsic and the historical societies of Bath, Georgetown, West Bath and Woolwich will each select a speaker to present an aspect of the town’s local history. All programs are about 45 minutes and are held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays from Jan. 18 to Feb. 15. The lectures will be livestreamed on Patten Free Library’s YouTube channel.

The first lecture in the series is “Bath: Past and Present” on Jan. 18, a revisit of Roy Lawrence’s talk and slideshow, and based on the Town History Series’ first talk back in 2005. Lawrence’s lecture will be updated slightly for the past and present 20 years later.

“Topics this year range from retrospectives of past Town History Series lectures to the history of U.S. Route 1 to the creation and legacy of the notoriously pungent New Meadows Lake,” Martin said.

Georgetown and West Bath will offer two new lectures. On Feb. 1, Lauren Bray, one of Georgetown Historical Society’s volunteers, will share the deep knowledge and legacy of Josephine Newman, who lived in the town her entire life. Newman was a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in the early 1900s, providing self-taught lessons to her students about the natural world surrounding her in Georgetown.

Later in life, Newman ensured the natural land around her property was preserved by passing about 119 out of 300 acres in her will to Maine Audubon in 1968, which is now called the Josephine Newman Audubon Sanctuary.

On Feb. 8, Jim Brophy, a retired Indiana University geology professor, will discuss the creation and history of New Meadows Lake and its impacts on West Bath in the lecture “Stink or Swim: The New Meadows Lake.”

“It is important that people feel a sort of connection to the place they are from and also that we keep broadening our understanding of what local history looks like,” Martin said.

Two more talks will be revisited. Maine Rep. Allison Hepler will rework her talk on the history of Route 1 in connection to Woolwich. Malcolm Persen of Arrowsic will add more information to his 2018 talk, “One House’s Journey through Arrowsic History Revisited,” about one house and its inhabitants witnessing all of Arrowsic’s history.

Martin believes there has been too much focus on grand history with big names and dates. However, local history is constantly evolving, and it’s essential for people to feel connected to it.

Anyone interested in the town history lectures can register by calling The History Room at 443-5141 ext. 1018. Recordings of the sessions will be available shortly after each lecture.