Old Sebec Lake is an intriguing look at one of
Maine's most beautiful and historically interesting
areas, containing a series of photographs as well as
accompanying text that document the most colorful era
in the lake's history.
T he photographs, which date from 1860 to 1950 and
come mainly from private collections, illustrate a time
of steamboats and tenting parties, log drives and spool
mills, market hunters and 30-mile traplines. This was
also a time of uncertain employment, boom-and-bust
economies, and remarkable changes in transportation,
all of which profoundly affected the lake and the
communities surrounding it.
Although the images tell the story, woven through
the text are interesting stories about B.M. Packard, Fred
Gates, Walter Arnold, and others whose lives contributed
to the lake's interesting past. Accounts of the 1936 flood,
the scuttling of the Marion, and the construction of The
Castle are also included in the text.