Last updated 11/6/21

“A History of Freedom’s 1830 Meeting House” with Alan Fall (Wednesday, September 15, 2021)

Known by many today as the Masonic Temple, which sits atop Schoolhouse Hill next to the Town Office building, this historic building originally served as a Meeting House and later as a Baptist Church. Recently an agreement was made to transfer ownership of the building to the Town of Freedom while allowing the Masons to continue meeting upstairs. Learn about the many stories associated with this building over the last 191 years – a history intertwined with Freedom’s itself.

Alan Fall has deep Freedom roots, being descended from 7 of Freedom’s founding families. He is both a surveyor and historian, and is currently serving his third term as Master of the Masonic Lodge. Alan has served Freedom as a Selectman, School Board Member, and Cemetery Trustee, among other positions. His popular “Lesser Told Stories of Freedom” presentations and Freedom History Tours have been regular events during Old Home Week festivities for years.

To view the program recording on YouTube, click here.

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“A History of Scarboro Road” with John H. Perkins (Wednesday, July 21, 2021)

Scarboro Road has always held a fascination for John Perkins — as a young boy, a teenager, a young adult, a husband, father, and now grandfather! His memories and recollections are numerous and varied: entering a home that had a funeral parlor; hearing people called “Cousin” but not knowing how they were related; a house that was moved from Scarboro Road to Old Portland Road; seeing a pond where the schoolhouse used to be; a brook running through the cellar to keep things cold; Saturday night summer cookouts at one residence with “The Road” invited and great fun making apple cider in October with “The Road”. Back when time moved more slowly, one could walk down to Margie’s, Bob Stuart’s Store, or Whittaker’s Store. In more recent years John has recognized the richness of the heritage of family and friends, plus appreciating the historical interrelationships between residences. For example: What is the original relationship between 231, 349 and 338 Scarboro Rd?

You won’t want to miss this presentation if you love the history of the Town of Freedom, or if one or more of the following surnames is a part of your family heritage or of friends that you knew: Alexander, Bennett, Birnie, Barrett, Black, Bradbury, Bucknell, Campbell, Carroll, Carter, Cleveland, Cuddy, Cunningham, Doe, Desharnais, Foss, Franke/McGarvey, French, Furbush, Gibbs 1, Gibbs 2, Glidden, Goff, Gordon, Halpern, Harmon 1, Harmon 2, Hatfield, Hodgdon, Kennedy/Morales, Kidder, Lamb/Steen, Lord, Lovering, Lozier, Marston, McDaniels, Meserve, Milliken, Mills, Nicholson, Perkins, Phelps, Philbrick, Rasquin, Sargent, Schluter, Sloboda/Dubroff, Smith, Stoops, Towle 1, Towle 2, Towle 3, Truelove, Vernon, Warren, Watts, Wogan/Zampell, Works, Vallacenti, and Youlden.

John currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Freedom Historical Society and has compiled a forthcoming FHS publication which will inventory houses on Old Portland, Scarboro, Black, Phil and East Ridge Roads based on research under FHS auspices by Hillary Johnson.

To view the program recording on YouTube, click here.

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