Local historian to give talk about Skowhegan’s Bicentennial July 20

SKOWHEGAN — The Community Regional Charter School at 25 Commercial St. plans to host a historical presentation about the Rise and Fall of a Commodious Hall on the Coburn Hall which was located where the Charter School now stands. This free, public, 90-minute presentation is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 20; use the Commercial Street entrance. This venue offers air conditioning and an elevator for those who require one.

Coburn Hall on Water Street ca. 1880. Submitted photo

Local historian Melvin Burnham, with the use of vintage images, early newspaper clippings, original documents, and related stories, will bring to life this small 1860’s community. He will present the background for why citizens felt the need to build a 1,200-seat auditorium, the building design and construction, use, and its demise, according to a news release from Burnham.

With features so elegant and a commanding presence in the business district, Coburn Hall quickly became the pride of the community when it opened in the triangle between Water and then Russell streets in 1867.

Elizabeth Bacon Custer, wife of Gen. Custer, toured the country in support of her husband after his demise out west. Submitted photo

Famous orators including Frederick Douglas, James G. Blaine, Joshua Chamberlain, Julia Ward Howe, General Neil Dow, Susan B. Anthony, General James A. Garfield, Henry Cabot Lodge, Elizabeth Custer and scores of others routinely filled the auditorium. Operettas, minstrels, comic and classical theatrical presentations of all kinds and nature came by train and entertained local patrons. Memorial services, school commencements and plays, dances, and roller-skating exhibitions happened here until that disastrous December night when Skowhegan’s cultural center was reduced to ashes.

Gone were the professional and municipal offices, the upscale stores, the two meeting halls, and the magnificent frescoed auditorium, up in smoke.

The presentation is an opportunity to travel back in time to visit that cultural era in the building that was constructed on the same footprint as the infamous Coburn Hall.

For more information, email Burnham at melburnham197@gmail.com.