The Jennings family came to Wayne in the 1780's. Their name for Wayne was New Sandwich. They paddled up the Thirty Mile River on log rafts and built a cabin. When the dam was built, the water flooded their cabin so they had to build a new house. The Jennings brothers were famous for their apples and pears. Some of the old apple trees can still be seen in the woods around the Jennings Homestead. Two-hundred years ago, Jennings children had to help carry wood and bring ice from the lake. When it was time for fun, they could roll down the grassy hills or slide on grain sacks in the winter.
At one time, the Jennings Homestead was surrounded by tall elms.
Most
of those trees are now gone. However, this beautiful old maple tree
still
stands from earlier times.
The Swifts lived here on Main Street until 1975. Molly Saunders
lives there now. The Swifts raised chickens and sold eggs. Mrs. Swift,
who had a vegetable and flower garden, was a choir director. They had a
blacksmith shop across the street where they made useful and ornamental
items out of iron. They made parts for buggies which were a major means
of transportation in early Wayne. The Swifts had two children. This is the North Wayne School House. It was open from 1855 to 1961.
There was one room for eight classes for 106 years. The students had a
play every Christmas. When the school got too crowded, some students
were sent to the Wayne School and others stayed at the North Wayne
School. When the school finally closed in 1961, all the children came
to the Wayne School. The North Wayne Tool Company was built in 1832. Sickles, scythes,
and dibbles were produced there and shipped all over the world. Blades
that were used in the Civil War were also made at the North Wayne Tool
Company. There were several fires there because the buildings were made
of wood. The old mill stones that are still standing on the site of the
North Wayne. Tool company were used to sharpen blades. In 1898, the town meeting of Wayne, Maine was held in the Town
House. Built in 1840, the town house is 158 years old. The Town House
was built to hold town meetings and as a town office. Made of wood, the
town house had benches inside for people to sit on. The men sat on one
side and the women sat on the other side because the women could not
vote. In 1898, the town elected pound keepers, tax collectors, a
surveyor of lumber, selectmen and school committee members to name a
few! During town meetings, the town clerk sat in a chair at the front.
This same chair is still at the Town House . The mill that Mr. Holman Johnson built in 1865 had many uses until
1949 when it was condemned. Originally used for a sawmill, in the
1940's it was converted to a crutch factory which made crutches from
birch and maple wood puchased from the people of Wayne. The factory
also made wooden toys and rowboats.
The Swift Family Home
North Wayne School
The North Wayne Tool Company
Town House
The Crutch Factory
There is a 15 foot drop between Pocasset and Androscoggin Lakes which
provides a natural force for the water wheel. In summer workers would
catch perch and other fish at lunch time. They would load the fish up
in baskets and bring them home to salt for the winter.