Historic York County documents, maps intrigue adult ed. group
Old maps, old deeds, old documents: really old - 1733 old. Its enough to make a history lovers heart go pitty-pat. And it did earlier this month when several members of a Bonny Eagle Adult Education class braved a prolific fall rainstorm to see for themselves some of the sorts of historical material that helps shape how we live today.
Some came to the historic York County Court House in Alfred (built 1806, with a rebuild of the center portion in 1934 following a fire) with a particular interest in maps, others in deeds, and still others with all of it – including admiring the stately courtroom used for trials for many, many years.
Rita Bradbury’s interest in old documents and maps is entwined with her passion for ancestor-hunting.
“I’m embedded in genealogy. I drove by a cemetery and it called me,” she said of how she became involved in family research.
Cemeteries are still calling the former longtime librarian of the Buxton Hollis Historical Society, and she is a regular contributor to Find A Grave, a vast online collection of cemetery listings that includes names and photos of headstones of those buried there.
York County Records Management Specialist Andrew O’Neill and York County Registrar of Deeds Nancy Hammond took attendees on a tour. The county-owned York County Court House building was for many years the home of York County Superior Court, but no longer serves that purpose – the state judicial branch consolidated the district and superior courts into a new state building in Biddeford in 2023. The building in Alfred is home to the registries of deeds and probate, the York County Probate Court, York County Co-operative Extension Agency and others.
O’Neill explained the process he’s currently undertaking to prepare some of Maine’s oldest documents – carefully unfolding paper tri-folded for many, many decades, and humidifying and flattening the pages so they can be scanned for eventual online viewing. The online link will sport a search function and display the original document along with an AI-generated summary of what it contains.
He noted that in the earliest days of York County, formed in 1636, York County Commissioners also conducted legal proceedings and that is why some of the county’s earliest records are with the state archive in Augusta.
O’Neill spoke of how property boundaries were sometimes described – like “the old barn that burned,” or “the sawdust pile,” as landmarks in petitions by residents to county commissioners asking them to build new roads – appropriate perhaps for the year in which they were written, but very challenging 300-400 years later.
O’Neill and Hammond began offering tours to York County adult education classes in 2025.
Students – and the education director from Bonney Eagle Adult Education pronounced it fascinating.
“We’re excited to offer this opportunity,” to our communities, said Cherie Goranites, Bonny Eagle Adult Education Director. She said the event was her first look at the interior of the historic courthouse.
Attendees perused copies of deeds hundreds of years old – including one where a native American conveyed a piece of land to an early settler. They examined maps, and other old documents encased in protective coverings to help preserve them.
“I think at this moment in time the rule of law and how that works is very important, and I find myself looking back to history for that kind of stability,” said adult education class member Veronica Hartman.
Adult education directors throughout York County who would like more information about courthouse tours may contact O’Neill at: AMONeill@yorkcountymaine.gov.
