Our History Preserving Maine’s Forestry and Logging Heritage, One Story at a Time

A Living Museum Takes Root

In the 1950s, a group of volunteers—many from the forestry and timber industries—recognized a growing need to preserve the stories, tools, and practices of Maine’s woodlands. Logging had shaped the economy, culture, and communities of Eastern Maine, yet little had been done to preserve its heritage. These visionaries envisioned a museum that would not only house artifacts but bring them to life.

By the late 1960s, after years of collecting equipment, tools, and archival material, they identified Leonard’s Mills—once home to multiple historic sawmills along Blackman Stream—as the perfect site. Thanks to the generosity of the Penobscot Experimental Forest and major timber companies, over 200 acres were donated for this vision. Over the years, the Museum has expanded to over 450 acres.

Rather than a static institution, the Museum was built as a working village, portraying life in the 1790s to 1920s. From the construction of the water-powered sash sawmill to the recreation of trappers' camps, blacksmith shops, and rotary mills, volunteers and students alike have worked to bring history into motion. A growing collection of working machinery—including a restored steam-powered Lombard log hauler and operating rotary sawmills—gives visitors a firsthand look at the ingenuity and labor that defined Maine’s forest industries.