Wiscasset, Maine

Here's a map to get you started.

Try the Lincoln County Historical Association

Website:

Lincoln County Historical Association

Wicasset's Historical Landmarks

Background:

All of Lea Wait's books take place (at least partially) in the beautiful town of Wiscasset, so you'll find the streets where the characters lived, the Village Green, the Sheepscot River, the Lincoln County Courthouse—and the 19th century Lincoln County Jail and Jailer's home, which are the site of major scenes in both Wintering Well and Finest Kind, and are open to the public in the summer, courtesy of the Lincoln County Historical Society. Visiting Wiscasset can give you a peek at how people lived in 19th century Maine, because the town hasn't changed much since then.

If you're driving up the Maine Coast, be sure to stop by "The Prettiest Village in Maine," on Route 1 about 50 miles north of Portland. A small village, originally inhabited in 1670, Wiscasset was for many years the largest port east of Boston, and is still filled with homes built by 19th century mariners and sea captains.

To see a farm operated the way Will's father's farm was in 1819, visit the Morris Farm on Route 27, an organic community farm open to the public.

The 1811 granite Lincoln County Jail, which housed prisoners from 1811-1954 and where Jake worked, in Finest Kind, is open on Saturdays in June and September from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and on Tuesday-Saturday in July and August from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Take a walk down Water Street. The 12 long wharves stretching out into the Sheepscot are now gone, for the most part, but you can still see the posts where they were. (Abbie and Seth in Stopping to Home lived on the wharf just about where Le Garage restaurant is today, and across the street from the 19th century Custom House.)

The Nichols-Sortwell House is open to the public in summer, and is the large house Captain William Nichols built for his family in 1807 (Stopping to Home). Dr. Theobold's home is on the next corner, back from Main Street, and you can see where his wife Nancy grew her roses on the fence (Wintering Well.)

The Village Green and the Ancient Cemetery, where Will and Cassie fooled the bullying Pendleton boys, is still there, near the Theobold House, as is the Lincoln County Courthouse, and the Lincoln and Kennebec Bank, which is now the Wiscasset Library.

Many of the old homes are now antique shops and art galleries, but the streets and buildings are the same. Buy a lobster roll down by the Wiscasset Bridge over the Sheepscot and stroll the streets. Who knows? You could imagine your own 19th century story ...

It's always fun to see where your favorite books are set. The reader can envision the characters walking along the streets, visiting these real places.

Plan to spend several hours exploring Wiscasset and the surrounding area.

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