Walking through history

When we visit a new city or town, we often walk by an interesting building that stands out from its surroundings. Sometimes, there is a plaque that identifies it as a “historical building.” If we are lucky, the plaque says a little bit more about its history or which famous person once lived there. There is rarely sufficient contextual information to capture our attention for very long. The background history is available somewhere, no doubt, if we had the time or the interest to look for it.

We visited many cities and towns in Maine for the first time this summer. Of those, three stand out in our minds: Augusta, Biddeford, and Wiscasset. This is because, in those locations, we were treated to a new and enjoyable experience called The Museum in the Streets. We found it by chance because it was not mentioned in our guidebook.

The Museum in the Streets is an innovative and permanent public installation along a designated heritage walk. Each town’s local history is brought to life through large, illustrated, and instructive panels. We had to find out more…

The Museum in the Streets is the brainchild of Dr. Patrick Cardon, an American historian, researcher, and museum curator who spent his whole career in national and international organizations devoted to the protection and promotion of cultural heritage.

His concept, which he copyrighted, was launched in the town of Pontlevoy (France) in 1995. There are ten such walks in Europe. He brought his idea to the U.S. and, up to now, has worked with twenty community organizations and historical societies across six states to create these wonderful urban trails.

The Museum in the Streets promotes a sense of identity and pride, and it ensures that stories about sites and events are cherished, preserved and shared. Dr. Cardon was quick to recognize that local historical associations are a treasure trove of knowledge and have wonderful collections, but limited budgets for dissemination and promotion.

There are between ten and thirty panels on each walk, including detailed introductory panels that provide a summary of the town’s history and show a map of the locations of each one of the site panels around the town. Some towns have developed a brochure to help visitors navigate the trail; that brochure is either available in a box attached to a panel with a map, or from local businesses.

Augusta has three thematic trails. Near the State Capitol, we came across the one relating to the role of the city during the Civil War.

The Museum in the Streets in Biddeford highlights the city’s Franco-American heritage and its role in the industrial development of New England’s cotton mills and shoe factories. The Biddeford Historical Society has a very impressive range of complementary resources available online.

The Museum in the Streets in Wiscasset tells the story of its commercial and residential streets with vintage illustrations of buildings that are still standing. The committee behind the Wiscasset initiative launched a free mobile app (Wiscasset MITS) in 2017. This exemplifies the potential of a multimedia approach to making history interesting and accessible.

We think that The Museum in the Streets is an inspired and inspiring initiative worth sharing with you. It certainly adds to the touristic attraction of a destination and we now look forward to visiting other towns with a Museum in the Streets.