SECOND SUNDAYS!
COME SING YOUR HEART OUT WITH FRIENDS, SECOND SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH 1-3PM. SNACKS, HOT BEVERAGES & TOASTY WOOD STOVE AWAIT.
Farwell’s sold everything one needs for life in rural Maine, from food to shoes; horse collars to tractor parts. This photo shows the general store, now half Museum and half Museum Store. Much original stock was still on the shelves when we began the cleanup in 2014. We still use the same wood stove; the chimney has been lined and replaced.
Photo: Kosti Ruohomaa/Maine State Museum
About
OUR MISSION: To convey history by means of the arts, using music, stories, dance, theater and visual means, with emphasis on elders working with younger people.
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Farwell’s Museum & Garden Variety open for the season: May 30, 2026, Saturdays & Sundays, 11 am - 4 pm
• A BRIEF HISTORY •
Farwell's was established by Oscar J. Farwell in 1872 in conjunction with the construction of the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad. Soldiers were returning from the Civil War, needing work. Maine needed railroads and people to build them. A friendly wager was made between Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad and Oscar Farwell to see whether a grain mill could be built in Thorndike, the intersection of well-traveled roads, before the track was laid from Belfast. Oscar pulled it off, with local help and expertise. The general store and grain mill would provide agricultural access between northern Maine farms and mid-coast ports. [A bit of trivia: When Belfast & Moosehead reached Burnham, beyond Thorndike to the northwest, it was obvious that Maine Central Railroad had already laid track to that point from the opposite direction. Communication was slow and news was not so new. So Belfast & Moosehead Lake Rail never made it to Moosehead Lake, which had been already staked out by Maine Central.]
At Oscar’s death, the business continued with his two sons, Bill and Dick. The store and mill finally closed its doors in 1960, shortly before the passing of Dick, the last surviving member of the family. Dick Farwell had no living heirs, but his legacy lives on through his many generous acts, among them a generous trust to the town, designated to defray taxes for the poor. The trust still exists today. • As a result of Farwell’s closing, the railroad ceased to run from Thorndike. The other village shops and mills soon closed their doors. A town that had supported a department store, a creamery, two car dealership, two general stores, two grain mills, a lumber mill, a cobbler and an inn quickly became very quiet.
Photo by Holly Ryan - Sunrise on the Mill