Maine State Building
Encyclopedia
The Maine State Building (built in 1893) was originally at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago
. Designed by Chicago
architect
Charles Sumner Frost
, a Lewiston, Maine
native and MIT graduate, the building was constructed of granite
with a slate
roof. All the materials were from Maine and crafted by craftsmen and companies from Maine. At the fair, the building was filled with displays about the State of Maine.
The granite that composed the building came from ten different quarries throughout the state and the slate on the roof from the Monson Slate Company of Monson, Maine
.
After its move to Poland Spring
, the first floor was dedicated to a library
and reading room. The second floor had bedrooms for overnight guests. The third floor was an Art Gallery
where American art
was shown.
Today, the Maine State Building is under the supervision of the Poland Spring Preservation Society, an organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of the Maine State Building and All Soul's Chapel in Poland. The Society operates the Nettie Ricker Art Gallery in the Maine State Building, with changing exhibits of local and regional art.
Along with the Norway Building
in Wisconsin, The Dutch House
in Massachusetts, and the Palace of Fine Arts
and World Congress Auxiliary Building
in Chicago, the Maine State Building is one of the few remaining buildings from the World's Fair.
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
. Designed by Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Charles Sumner Frost
Charles Sumner Frost
Charles Sumner Frost was an American architect.Born in Lewiston, Maine, Frost was first a draftsman in Boston, and a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While working in Boston he worked for the firm of Peabody and Stearns. He moved to Chicago in 1 882. There he began a...
, a Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...
native and MIT graduate, the building was constructed of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
with a slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
roof. All the materials were from Maine and crafted by craftsmen and companies from Maine. At the fair, the building was filled with displays about the State of Maine.
The granite that composed the building came from ten different quarries throughout the state and the slate on the roof from the Monson Slate Company of Monson, Maine
Monson, Maine
Monson is a town in Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a population of 666. The town is located on Route 15 which is a somewhat major route north to the well known Moosehead Lake Region, to which Monson is sometimes considered a gateway...
.
The Ricker Family bought the building for $30,000. Arrangements were made for the dismantling of the building and shipping by freight train back to Maine. It was to take 16 freight cars! The Rickers sent a crew of 19 men to Chicago, led by Forest Walker of Poland, the resort's head carpenter and civil engineer to take the building down, carefully marking each section. The building was taken apart under the personal supervision of Hiram W. Ricker, loaded on a special train of sixteen cars and transported to Maine, at a cost of over three thousand dollars. It was to become the crowning feature of the opening of the season of 1895. The cornerstone was laid on August 14, 1894, and the Maine State Building was dedicated on July 1, 1895, as part of the celebration marking the Ricker's settling in Poland.
After its move to Poland Spring
Poland Spring
Poland Spring is a brand of bottled water manufactured by a subsidiary of Nestlé and sold in the United States. It was founded in 1845 by Hiram Ricker. Despite the name, the water does not come from the country of Poland...
, the first floor was dedicated to a library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
and reading room. The second floor had bedrooms for overnight guests. The third floor was an Art Gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
where American art
American Art
American Art is the debut album of the band Weatherbox. It was released on May 8, 2007 on Doghouse Records. The album received critical acclaim from several sources including underground music distribution company Smartpunk, who lauded the band's style:...
was shown.
Today, the Maine State Building is under the supervision of the Poland Spring Preservation Society, an organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of the Maine State Building and All Soul's Chapel in Poland. The Society operates the Nettie Ricker Art Gallery in the Maine State Building, with changing exhibits of local and regional art.
Along with the Norway Building
Little Norway, Wisconsin
Little Norway is a tourist attraction and living museum of a Norwegian village located in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. Little Norway consists of a fully restored farm dating to the mid-19th century. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
in Wisconsin, The Dutch House
The Dutch House
The Dutch House is a historic house at 20 Netherlands Road in Brookline, Massachusetts.It was built in 1893 as part of the World's Fair in Chicago or and is one of the only surviving buildings. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.-References:...
in Massachusetts, and the Palace of Fine Arts
Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)
The Museum of Science and Industry is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood adjacent to Lake Michigan. It is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...
and World Congress Auxiliary Building
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
in Chicago, the Maine State Building is one of the few remaining buildings from the World's Fair.