Collection + Exhibits
Object of the Month
Get a glimpse of the past with highlighted artifacts from the museum’s collection.
With more than 10,00 artifacts in our collection, there’s a lot to learn about. Come along with us as we unearth one item a month and take a deep dive into its use, significance, and any community stories connected to its history, meaning, or purpose.
From archival photographs to awards, manufacturing tools and inventions to locally made holiday ornaments from a once renown manufacturer—get a glimpse into the past, right now.
November 2024: 1987 Flood
Our object of the month this November is a photograph from our collection of the Androscoggin River during the 1987 flood. While the river has been powering the mills for well over a hundred years, it also floods fairly often! This photo is just one of those many times when the river broke its banks. The 1936 flood hit 27.57 feet high, while the recent flood in December 2023 hit 20.27 at its height. The water level in the 1987 flood pictured hit 23.7 feet, the second highest on record.Did you miss a past Object of The Month?
We’ve gone through a treasure trove of items from our collection over the years. Scroll through and see what you may have missed.
November 2022: War Ration Booklet
With Veteran’s Day approaching later this month, our object of the month is a ration booklet held in our collection. As with many areas of life, the textile, brick, and shoemaking industries of the Androscoggin region felt the effects of WWII. For example, many mills...
October 2022: Bates Manufacturing Company Medal for Valued Service
This medal was awarded to the Bates Manufacturing Company in 1951 for 100 years of valued service. The Jordan Marsh Company bestowed this medal to the mills, “commemorating our New England centennial associates whose integrity of character and preservation of American...
September 2022: Mill Workers
In honor of Labor Day this month, the museum would like to recognize and honor the hard work and dedication of the mill workers of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These three undated photographs show mill workers at different parts of the textile making...
August 2022: Morin Brick Workers
This is a photograph from the 1930s of Morin Brick Workers. The son of French Canadian immigrants, John Morin and his family founded Morin Brick Co. in 1912. Using the clay-like soil of the Androscoggin region, Morin Brick made bricks that were used in the...
July 2022: American Bobbin Co. Panoramic Photograph
This photograph was taken in October 1947, outside of the company’s office on 47 Whipple Street in Lewiston. American Bobbin Co. started in 1945, when it absorbed the name and assets of a Rhode Island corporation that had functioned since 1920. The company was a part...
June 2022: Cotton
This month we are featuring cotton: the product from which most textiles originate. In honor of Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved peoples in the United States, we’d like to acknowledge the dark history associated with cotton, and thus...
May 2022: Valuation of Machinery Booklet
Museum L-A’s May Object of the Month is the York Manufacturing Company's Valuation of Machinery booklet from 1853 to 1892. Built on Saco Island in 1831, the York Manufacturing company milled cotton goods, operating with 1,000 workers by 1839. It’s predecessor was the...
April 2022: Photograph of a Brick Maker
This undated photograph shows a man standing on a brick cart in front of an impressive pile of bricks. The worker puffs a cigarette while laboring in the Dennis Brickyard. On his hands, you can see large white gloves. Without these special gloves, the skin on a...
March 2022: Photograph of Female Workers
Happy Women’s History Month. Female weavers played a huge part in the successful operation of the Bates Mills, working to create bedspreads, sheets, and other beautiful textile pieces. This month, we are highlighting a photograph circa 1910 of three female employees....
Help preserve Maine MILL artifacts
Antique and vintage items need a lot of maintenance to prolong their lifetime. Help us to preserve and care for these historical items and representations of our community’s history by donating today.