Founded:
The museums' collections are the result of H.G. Brack, who worked for the Jonesport Wood Company. He began by looking for old woodworking tools and other related antiques. This soon was augmented with the search for old hand-held tools, antique art and Native American artifacts.
Brack's collections formed the backbone of The Davistown Museum, which he found in 1999. He named the museum after the settlement of Davistown Plantation, which went on to become Montville and Liberty.
Mission:
To recover, display, and interpret the hand tools of Maine and New England’s maritime culture.
To serve as a clearinghouse for information on the history of hand tools and their role in the early industries and technologies of Maine and New England.
To increase community awareness of and access to information on local, regional, Native American, and environmental history.
To provide a forum for contemporary Maine artists to exhibit their work and create an environment that is an ongoing installation of conceptual, assemblage, abstract, and traditional art in juxtaposition with the exhibition of tools as both historical and sculpture objects.
Collections:
The Davistown Museum location in Liberty offers collections of 18th and 19th century tools, as well as contemporary and antiquarian art that uses assemblages of tools dating to those same eras. There are also displays of Native American tools and artifacts. A local history research room and a museum cafe widen the breadth of amenities at the Museum. The Maine Artists Guild Gallery is on the second floor of the facility and features works by Maine artists. The Center for the Study of Early Tools and the Elliot Sayward Memorial Library offer further research opportunities for those interested in early tools and related subjects.
Facilities:
The organization operates two facilities, the first being the location in Liberty. This building is the Davistown museum itself and is open from March through December. However the other buildings, which is in Hulls Cove, Bar Harbor, is the office for the museum and is open year-round. Therefore it is recommended that inquiries be directed towards the Hulls Cove office. There is also a sculpture garden at the hull's cove location.
Hours:
Monday-Wednesday: closed
Thursday-Sunday: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.