Founded:
The Washburn-Norlands Foundation was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1973, largely at the bequest of descendants of the Washburn family. They not only wanted the family's prize possession, in the Washburn homestead, to be preserved, but they also wanted it to serve as an educational institution.
Mission:
Our mission is to preserve the heritage and traditions of rural life in Maine's past, to celebrate the achievements of Livermore's Washburn family, and to use living history methods to make values, activities, and issues of the past relevant to present and future generations.
Collections:
All five buildings of the Washburn Norlands Living History Center serve as active museums. The mansion alone contains artwork, original Washburn paraphernalia, historic clothing, books, furniture and more. Apart from the displays within the buildings the History Center also hosts a series of reenactments and other living history exhibits.
Facilities:
The Washburn Norlands Living History Center is comprised of five buildings. These are the mansion, library, meeting house, school house and carriage house. All have been restored and furnished as museums. The History Center also maintains a large tract of land to be used in reenactments and other living history performances.