L. C. Bates Museum

The L.C. Bates Museum is an early 20th-century natural history and cultural museum in Hinckley, Maine, United States, located on the campus of Good Will-Hinckley. It was founded by George Walter Hinckley (1853–1950), as a part of the Good Will Home, a pioneering residential and educational institution for underprivileged children.[2]

Quincy Building
The Quincy Building, not long after its construction
L. C. Bates Museum is located in Maine
L. C. Bates Museum
L. C. Bates Museum is located in the United States
L. C. Bates Museum
Nearest cityHinckley, Maine
Coordinates44°39′45″N 69°37′40″W
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1903
ArchitectWilliam R. Miller
Architectural styleRomanesque
NRHP reference No.78000330[1]
Added to NRHPOctober 4, 1978

Description

The museum is housed in The Quincy Building, a 1903 Romanesque Revival brick school building, designed by noted Lewiston architect, William R. Miller[3] (1866–1929). The building originally served as an industrial and training space, but was repurposed to house the museum by the early 1920s. The building, with its distinctive terracotta egg and dart ornamentation, and arched windows, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Described as a “Museum of a Museum”, The L.C. Bates Museum contains Maine's most well preserved museum interiors from the early 20th century. Its exhibits include 32 Maine habitat dioramas, galleries of birds, mammals, marine life, insects, reptiles, and minerals, as well as hands-on educational exhibits.

The backgrounds for the dioramas were painted in the 1920s by noted American Impressionist painter Charles Daniel Hubbard [4] (1876–1951).

Sun Set Park, an arboretum, is located on the museum grounds. The arboretum was, in part, designed by the renowned Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture practice.[5] Sun Set Park includes natural areas with walking trails, complementing the museum's focus on Maine's natural history.

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Hinckley, George Walter (1954). The Man of Whom I Write – Incidents in the Life of Reverend Walter Hinckley, Founder of The Good Will Homes, Hinckley, Maine. Fairfield, Maine: Galahad Press.
  3. Shettleworth, jr., Earle G.; Reed, Roger G., eds. (1984). A Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Maine. Augusta, ME: Maine Historic Preservation Commission.
  4. Péladeau, Marius B. (1996). "Charles D. Hubbard, 1876 – 1951, American Impressionist". A Biographical Essay, to Accompany an Exhibition of Paintings, Writings and Drawings at the L.C. Bates Museum, Good Will-Hinckley, Hinckley, Maine. Hinckley, Maine: The L.C. Bates Museum.
  5. Paul D. Ledvina. Olmsted Associates: A Register of Its Records in the Library of Congress. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 2000. Available via Library of Congress
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