As renovations continue, we are uncovering fascinating tidbits of history about the Bagley-Bliss house every day! For instance, we found these strange marks on every other floorboard that was covered up by carpet in the room adjacent to the kitchen! The floorboards have been verified as original by the Maine Historical Society so the story behind these marks *could* be true but we will let you be the judge.
The story goes that when O. Israel Bagley was building the original farmhouse in 1772, he wanted to provide his wife, Mary, with pine floorboards in her kitchen. Unfortunately, when he went to cut down the best timbers, he found that the tallest and strongest trees had already been marked for the king to use as ship masts. Being a patriot, and finding this unacceptable, Bagley proceeded to cut down the marked trees as an act of defiance and replaced the king’s mark on the smaller trees nearby. Even if this is just a legend, I feel honored to be taking care of O. Israel Bagley’s house and all the legends that come with it!
