|
The sign is like several others that were found in the old barn before it was taken down. Each sign had its own distinctive style and wording, and each was once displayed at the entrance to
the museum. A few, like this one, contain misinformation. Viewed together, the signs speak to us of Woodlawn’s evolution as a museum and public park.
The newly found sign dates from the early days of the museum (1929-1950). Approximately 32” X 44”, the sign has a story to tell. First, “The Black House” (or is it a “mansion”?) gets top billing, as the “estate” was still very much a farm with pastures, a few farm animals and vegetable gardens. Most curious for us today is seeing the year 1802 on the sign since we now know that the house was finished and first occupied by John and Mary Black in 1827. In truth, when Woodlawn was bequeathed to the Hancock County Trustees of Public
Reservations by George Nixon Black, Jr, it was widely believed that Woodlawn had been built in 1802, the year that John and Mary Black were married. The Trustees assumed that Mary’s father, General David Cobb of Gouldsborough, had presented the couple with Woodlawn as a
wedding gift. But this was not true. The couple had actually lived in Gouldsborough until 1809 and then moved to Ellsworth where they occupied a house much closer to the Union River. The Trustees’ interpretation of Woodlawn was revised when information in the archives revealed that construction of the brick house began in 1824 and that the Blacks moved into Woodlawn on November 7, 1827. The 1802 signs were replaced.
| 
